Radio Free Asia (RFA) has said it is suspending its news operations due to the US government shutdown and the Trump administration’s cuts to government-funded news services. “RFA has been forced to suspend all remaining news content production – for the first time in its 29 years of existence,” said Bay Fang, RFA’s president and CEO, in a statement. “In an effort to conserve limited resources on hand and preserve the possibility of restarting operations should consistent funding become available, RFA is taking further steps to responsibly shrink its already…
Tag: Press freedom
UN and rights groups condemn reported jailing of Wuhan Covid citizen journalist
The UN, human rights groups and media freedom watchdogs have condemned reports that Zhang Zhan, a Chinese citizen journalist, was sentenced to jail for the second time last week. Zhang, 42, is thought to have stood trial in Shanghai on Friday on a charge of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”, a charge often used in China to target critics of the government. Western diplomats were reportedly turned away from observing the trial. Reporters Without Borders (RSF), a media freedom NGO, said on Saturday that Zhang had been sentenced to four…
Final arguments conclude in Jimmy Lai national security trial in Hong Kong
Final arguments have concluded in the national security trial of the pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai in Hong Kong. Government-picked judges are retiring to consider their verdict in the case, seen internationally as a crucial test of the rule of law in the city. Lai, 77, has been in prison since 2020, when he was charged with two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and one count of conspiracy to publish seditious material. The charges were brought under a sweeping national security law (NSL) imposed by Beijing after…
NGOs urge Nandy to halt sale of Telegraph over China links
A group of nine human rights and freedom of expression organisations have called on the culture secretary to halt RedBird Capital’s proposed £500m takeover of the Telegraph and investigate the US private equity company’s ties to China. The international non-governmental organisations, which include Index on Censorship, Reporters Without Borders and Article 19, have written to Lisa Nandy arguing that RedBird Capital’s links with China “threaten media pluralism, transparency and information integrity in the UK”. A consortium led by RedBird Capital agreed a deal in May to buy the Daily Telegraph…
Hong Kong authorities trying to disrupt independent press with ‘strange’ tax audits
Hong Kong authorities have targeted journalists and media outlets with what are supposed to be “random” tax audits, in a move the industry union says adds pressure to waning press freedoms. The head of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, Selina Cheng, detailed what she said were “strange” and “unreasonable” accusations by Hong Kong’s inland revenue department. Requests or audits were made against the association, at least eight independent media outlets, and at least 20 journalists and their family members, including Cheng and her parents, she said at a press conference…
‘A cocktail for a misinformed world’: why China and Russia are cheering Trump’s attacks on media
Illustration: Hello Von/The Guardian As Donald Trump’s executive order in March led to the shuttering of Voice of America (VOA) – the global broadcaster whose roots date back to the fight against Nazi propaganda – he quickly attracted support from figures not used to aligning themselves with any US administration. Trump had ordered the US Agency for Global Media, the federal agency that funds VOA and other groups promoting independent journalism overseas, to be “eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law”. The decision suddenly halted programming in 49…
Advocates for jailed publisher Lai turn to Trump administration
WASHINGTON — The son of imprisoned pro-democracy publisher Jimmy Lai this week brought the campaign to secure his father’s release to the Trump administration in Washington. Nearly two months into President Donald Trump’s second term, Lai’s son Sebastien and their international legal team were in Washington this week to meet with Trump administration officials and lawmakers in hopes that the United States can help push for Lai’s release. Lai, a businessman and founder of the now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper in Hong Kong, stands accused of collusion with foreign forces and…
TikTok raises free speech concerns on bill passed by US House that may ban app
Washington — TikTok on Sunday raised free speech concerns about a bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives that would ban the popular social media app in the U.S. if its Chinese owner ByteDance did not sell its stake within a year. The House passed the legislation on Saturday by a margin of 360 to 58. It now moves to the Senate where it could be taken up for a vote in the coming days. President Joe Biden has previously said he will sign the legislation. The step to…
Soap operas censored in China for spreading ‘unhealthy family values’
China’s movie regulators are rolling out new regulations on minute-long soap operas, a new genre that became popular in China during COVID-19 pandemic but which has been accused of spreading “incorrect values.” Designed for shorter attention spans during the internet age, these mini-soap operas aim to get people watching videos on their phones hooked as quickly as possible. Starting June 1, the soap operas must be registered and reviewed before they can go online. Key minute-long soap operas — those with investment of around $138,000 (1 million RMB) — must…
Sweden expels Chinese journalist, calling her threat to national security, report says
Copenhagen, Denmark — Sweden has expelled a Chinese journalist, saying the reporter was a threat to national security, Swedish media reported on Monday. The journalist, an unnamed, 57-year-old woman, was arrested by the Swedish security service in October and expelled by the government in Stockholm last week, Swedish broadcaster SVT reported. She is banned from returning. The woman arrived in the Scandinavian country some 20 years ago. She held a residence permit and was married to a Swedish man, with whom she has children, according to the broadcaster. The woman…