Legal Constraints on International Journalists

News reporters all around the world cover live events, but not all reporters pay the same cost. Each country varies on how much freedom of press and speech is allowed. Journalists are risking their lives to spread awareness and cover stories that authorities in many countries basically want "covered up."

Russia and Ukraine

The war between Russia and Ukraine has caused political propaganda and disinformation to be promoted by media. This brief video shows Vladimir Putin's words against his and Russia's actions.

Since the beginning of the war, eight reporters have been murdered in Ukraine, with many others being hunted down. RSF

Journalist Brent Renaud was killed by Russian troops while in Ukraine in March of 2022. The Guardian

North Korea

North Korea is known as one of the top countries (if not the top country) to have restrictions on speech and media. Freedom of the press is expressed in the country's Article 67, but almost all new information comes from one source--the Korean Central News Agency. The KNCA is highly controlled and restricted when talking about foreign matters, and accessing stories online about other countries is banned. CPJ

Vietnam

In Vietnam, print and internet media are controlled by the government. The only independent news outlet allowed to discuss living in Vietnam is a Catholic church news, which still has reporters who are heavily watched. Journalists from other countries that are on a media visa are required to hire a government official to keep watch on them all day.

Iran

Protests in Iran have been rampant, causing Iran to be third in highest number of imprisoned journalists. Nilufar Hamedi, one of the reporters in Iran, covered the story of Mahsa Amini which landed her in jail. Mahsa Amini was a twenty-two-year-old woman from Iran that got arrested and died in custody. She was arrested after she was found without her head garment on properly, and this caused an uproar of protests and controversy. Police deny that Mahsa Amini's death had anything to do with police violence/brutality while detaining her and instead said she had a heart problem. BBC

Right now, there are forty-one journalists of Iran in prison for reporting. This may cause other journalists to want to stay under the radar, but even some of the smallest cities in Iran are not safe from arrest. This aligns with Iran having one of the worst freedom rankings for reporters in the world. Internet access and VPNs are prevented most every day by the government. Other media not associated with the government is still supervised by government authorities. Reporters Without Borders 

An example of another international reporter is Yalda Moaiery, and she was arrested and beaten in September. She was reporting on the protests in Tehran when she was detained. CPJ

China

China is notorious for arresting an abundance of journalists in the country. Private and public news sources are controlled, and the government uses one of the top forms of censorship to manage the media usage of the people. News cannot be posted to social media without approval from the Cyberspace Administration of China's Permission, and international journalists are watched by surveillance.  RSF

Zhang Zhan, a Chinese journalist, was arrested after posting videos on the impact of Covid-19 and how the government responded. Another journalist, an Australian citizen but was born in China, was arrested for putting national security at risk between China and Australia. CPJ

TikTok is ran by a Chinese company yet has blocked people that are living in China from using it. Another app that is banned in China, Pakistan, Russia, Iran, and other various countries is Telegram. Telegram is a messaging platform that allows messages to be encrypted/private and secure from spies. This app is available in the United States. Along with this app, a lot of other social media platforms in foreign countries are blocked. Privacy Hub

How Does the Government Censor Media?

Social media and social media posts can be blocked using a few different methods. Any post is at risk of being deleted by apps that do not feel like the posts are in line with user guidelines. This is a standard form of censorship that most all countries internationally or in the United States agree with doing. This may be taken a step further, like when Donald Trump was banned from Twitter after expressing himself in a controversial way. Privacy Hub

Also, service providers that are used in each particular country have the ability to block the use of social media. However, if VPNs are still allowed, people use one to access media and hide their IP address. VPN usage is typically very limited in countries with little press freedom, however. The government can also block media by an ASN, which essentially tricks your computer into thinking the website cannot be accessed because of its location. Privacy Hub

Although there is technology that could potentially advance to provide more restrictions, I think that these restrictions will grow to be harder to manage due to social media. I have seen videos posted that are most likely not within the government's restrictions but are posted anyway. With this form of internet reportage, people who do not have a job as a reporter can still report by just posting what they see, which would be harder to control. People will find loopholes in the system to access media.

After I thought about the consequences international journalists face every day, I soon questioned the importance of reporting in other countries since it does put so many people in danger. However, there are many reasons journalists are passionate and are led to report on hard events. Like in the video from Reporters Beyond Borders*, propaganda is a real tactic used to provide a false sense of reality. If you only believe the words of Putin for example, you are completely blindsided to the truth. Spreading awareness can give the people who are affected support. The video below also goes into detail the importance of knowledge for change.

It is a freedom to be able to report on the truth, and that is taken for granted pretty easily in the United States. The reporters who do their job without having that freedom of press are who we should admire for their bravery.