Stars and Stripes military newspaper has reported that US army commanders in Afghanistan are rejecting requests from reporters who want to “embed” with troops because their prior coverage was considered to be negative. Read more here
An additional charge of “intentional physical violence” have been brought against Adnan Hadji Zadeh and Emin Milli, two bloggers who have been held on a hooliganism charge since July in Azerbaijan. The new charge carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison, in addition to the five years they are already facing for hooliganism. Read more here
The National Union of Somali Journalists has expressed its outrage at the continued suppression of media rights in the Gedo region by the Islamist group Al-Shabaab. The NUSJ report detailed how Radio Markabley was ordered to fire two of its journalists for writing “biased reports” and was issued with a seven-point decree by the group. The decree accuses the station of being “too neutral regarding holy war” and instructs them to stop broadcasting any secular songs or use any musical programs, interviews, advertisements or news content. Read more here
The file-sharing website The Pirate Bay is now offline following a ruling by a Swedish court that ordered its largest internet service provider, Black Internet, to cut their service to the filesharing site. The court threatened Black Internet with a 500,000 kronor (£43,188) fine for failure to comply to withdraw services until the ongoing case between Pirate Bay and the entertainment industry is over. Read more here