Press freedom

Journalists gather outside the Ankara courthouse on March 10, 2020 behind a banner reading in Turkish "journalism is not crime," to protest over jailing of journalists, sparked by the recent arrest of OdaTV's news director and a journalist's report on the funeral of a Turkish intelligence officer apparently killed in Libya.

Journalist who investigated Erdogan’s son jailed on 'disinformation' charges in Turkey

Human rights organizations warn Ari’s detention signals a broader campaign against journalists probing government corruption and elite networks.

Traffic rolls along a main throughfare under a banner with images of past and present leaders that reads in Farsi, "Domino fall", as daily life returns to the streets following nationwide protests, in the Iranian capital Tehran on January 19, 2026. Demonstrations sparked in late December by anger over economic hardship exploded into protests widely seen as the biggest challenge to the Iranian leadership in years. Limited internet access briefly returned in Iran before dropping again, a monitor said January

Analysis

Iran’s longest-ever internet blackout leaves 99% offline: What to know

Facing a historic internet blackout, Iranians are locked in a struggle with authorities to find loopholes to get around this communications crackdown, leading to "shutdowns within a shutdown."

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

This picture taken on August 11, 2025, shows the headquarters of the Qatari state-funded news television network Al Jazeera in the capital Doha. (Photo by Karim JAAFAR / AFP) (Photo by KARIM JAAFAR/AFP via Getty Images)

Qatar-based Al Jazeera commentators go dark on social media: What to know

Saeed Ziad, who offered a pro-Iran perspective on the war, has not posted on X in days, and the account of Fatima al-Smadi was deleted, though their exact status is not known.

Israeli state aircraft Wing of Zion, which flew to Greece from Ben Gurion Airport, is seen at International Airport in Athens on June 13, 2025, in Athens, Greece.

Israeli-Russian journalist removed from Netanyahu’s US flight: What to know

Israeli-Russian journalist Nick Kolyohin was removed from the official Israeli Wing of Zion plane just before its departure for Washington, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to meet President Donald Trump.

Latest News

Washington Post cuts 30% of staff, guts foreign desk, Mideast team: What to know

A man exits the Washington Post office building in Washington, DC, on Feb. 4, 2026.

‘Save the Post’: Washington Post journalists urge Bezos to protect foreign desk

The Washington Post building at One Franklin Square on June 5, 2024, in Washington.

Iran blackout enters 12th day as filtered internet reveals crackdown

Pedestrians make their way along a path at Tehran Grand Bazaar, on Jan. 18, 2026 in Tehran, Iran.

Turkey sentences journalist over 4 years in jail for threatening Erdogan

Prominent Turkish journalist Fatih Altayli is pictured in this undated image.

Protest against Soulaiman Raissouni's sentencing

Moroccan journalist's jailing draws rebuke from US

State Department spokesman Ned Price said the United States is "disappointed" by a Moroccan court's five-year sentence of journalist Soulaiman Raissouni.

Reports highlight crackdowns on press in Kurdistan Region

The Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government has rejected the charges, citing the independence of courts and media partnerships.

Egyptian prime minister with TV presenter

Egypt to launch regional news channel

Egypt is planning on launching a regional news channel, including joint projects and productions with Saudi Arabia.

EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP via Getty Images

Israel says Hamas used AP, Al Jazeera building in Gaza to jam Iron Dome

Israel will help rebuild AP offices in Gaza, said its UN ambassador.

Khaled Dawoud

Egypt releases journalist Khaled Dawoud from prison

Khaled Dawoud was arrested as part of a sweeping crackdown on anti-government protesters in 2019.

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood spokesman Talaat Fahmy speaks during an interview in his office, Istanbul, Turkey, Jan. 19, 2021.

Is Turkey going to crack down Muslim Brotherhood aligned TV in gesture to Egypt?

The Turkish government has advised Brotherhood aligned stations against insulting Egyptian officials.

Erbil court convicts journalists, activists of spying, organizing armed groups

Five defendants, including journalists and activists, were sentenced to prison in Erbil in a decision that international rights groups say is an attack on press freedoms.

Prominent Turkish lawyer defiant after jail sentence over media trial

Eren Keskin, a prominent human rights lawyer, was among four defendants sentenced to prison on terror-linked charges Monday in a newspaper trial that raised concerns over media freedom in Turkey.

Activists fear Iraqi cybercrime law could limit press freedoms

The Iraqi cybercrime bill makes a reappearance amid widespread objections by civilians and activists who label it as repressive of freedoms and rights guaranteed in the Iraqi Constitution.

Egyptian, Iranian leaders criticize French president over comments on freedom of expression

French President Emmanuel Macron angered many Muslim leaders when he defended images of the prophet of Islam after a Parisian teacher was beheaded for showing such images.

Syrian pro-regime fighters and journalists enter the courtyard of the museum of Maaret al-Numan in Syria's northwestern Idlib province on January 30, 2020. - Maaret al-Numan is nestled in a UNESCO-listed region of ancient villages and its mosaics museum had achieved international renown.
The museum, housed in an Ottoman-era caravanserai, was seriously damaged in a government barrel bomb attack in 2015. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP) (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA/AFP via Getty Images)

Syrian journalists in Idlib face crackdown from jihadist-affiliated government

The government affiliated with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in Syria has decreed that journalists can’t work in their areas of control without a permit.

TOPSHOT - This picture shows the courtroom and soundproof glass dock (bottom) during the trial of 700 defendants including Egyptian photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zeid, widely known as Shawkan, in the capital Cairo, on September 8, 2018. - Shawkan, who earlier this year received UNESCO's World Freedom Prize, was on September 8 handed a five-year jail sentence in a trial including over 700 other defendants over charges of killing police and vandalising property during the clashes, some of which were also handed

Reporter's arrest, abrupt release chills journalists in Egypt

A journalist who had gone to Luxor to cover the recent unrest there was arrested on charges that included the spreading of fake news and belonging to a terrorist group.