Intl media group cites 10 'most censored' countries 

An independent association of journalists —the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) — has named the top 10 "most censored" countries.

 

According to a report of the news site Huffington Post, some country’s governments choose to limit, fully control or ban these tools instead of actually utilizing it.  

 

On its special report on Wednesday, the CPJ cited the following countries as the most censored:  

(1) Eritrea Estimated number of Filipinos: 121*

 

According to the CPJ, in this government ran by President Isaias Afewerki since 1993, journalists must take strict instructions from Information Minister Ali Abdu on how to cover events and how a news story should be.

 

Any journalist who is suspected of leaking information outside the country will be imprisoned indefinitely with no trial, lawyer, and means of communicating with one's family.

 

Last 2011, a project for mobile internet access was cancelled due to the government’s fear of the Arab Spring Uprisings. Eritrea’s internet is fully controlled and monitored by the government.

 

(2) North Korea Estimated number of Filipinos: 8*

 

The CPJ said news in North Korea remains controlled even after supreme leader Kim Jong Un took over when his father Kim Jong Il died in December last year.

 

The Korean Central News Agency, the country’s official media arm, produces almost all the content of their daily media, from newspapers, periodicals and broadcasts which all focus on the government and its activities.

 

Internet for the regular North Korean is next to non-existent, having limited access which is also monitored. There is no way to connect to anywhere outside the country.

 

(3) Syria Estimated number of Filipinos: 24,004*

 

Since the uprisings against President Bashar al-Assad in Syria began in March last year, at least nine journalists have been killed. There is also no access to mobile phones, landlines, electricity and the internet, the CPJ said.

 

Because of the widespread violence, the international media has been heavily relying on videos, photos and footages taken by citizens – some even in the heat of gunfire.

 

(4) Iran Estimated number of Filipinos: 3,925*

 

When President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad assumed power in 2005, anti-government reports have allegedly been silenced. Journalists and their families were also allegedly tortured, the CPJ said.

 

The internet on the other hand is very much limited, with "tons of websites" either blocked or inaccessible, the CPJ added.

 

(5) Equatorial Guinea Estimated number of Filipinos: 2086*

 

According to the CPJ, the government of Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, which has taken over Equatorial Guinea since a coup in 1979, highly values ‘positive’ news about the nation. The CPJ alleged that journalists who do not comply with the rules and regulations were sent to prison.

 

The government also allegedly restrains foreign journalists from filming anything negative about the country such as poverty.

 

(6) Uzbekistan Estimated number of Filipinos: 55*

 

The state media, under President Islam Karimov who took power in 1991, runs the show because there are no independent media outlets in the country, the CPJ said.

 

The CPJ claimed that foreign journalists are prevented to come to the country and news on the internet is blocked.  

(7) Burma Estimated number of Filipinos: 515*

 

Due to heavy prepublication censorship requirements, privately run news are published weekly instead of daily, the CPJ said.  

It also alleged that news blackouts are also issued on reports about the armed conflict with ethnic rebels.

 

Apart from this, flash drives and voice-over-Internet-protocol (VoIP) chat is banned in internet cafes. To own a computer, one must register for a license.

 

(8) Saudi Arabia Estimated number of Filipinos: 1,512,539*

 

Ruled by King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud since in 2005, Saudi Arabia has conservative laws for the media and internet, the CPJ said.

 

These laws are especially implemented in the Eastern Province where there have been protests for political reform and equal treatment for the Shiite minority since February last year.

 

The CPJ alleged that government officials have the power to fire and appoint any senior editor in traditional media.

 

(9) Cuba Estimated number of Filipinos: 475*

 

Cuba has been a one-party communist state since 1959 and is currently headed by President Raúl Castro. He took over in 2008 from his brother Fidel Castro, who assumed power after a revolution in 1959.

 

The CPJ said the communist party controls the news media along with heavy internet censorship.  

The CPJ said all independent journalists are forced to work for news sites based abroad and many of them have been jailed.

 

(10) Belarus Estimated number of Filipinos: 22*

 

For President Aleksandr Lukashenko who assumed office in 1994, the way to censor media is by controlling it, the CPJ said.

 

A journalist in Belarus cannot work without government accreditation.  

Journalists and organizations who oppose Lukashenko in any way may face prosecution, imprisonment, travel bans and hacking to name a few, the CPJ said. - Andrei Medina, VVP, GMA News

 

* Data taken from the 2010 Stock Estimate of the Commission on Filipinos Overseas