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IFEX
@ifex.org
610 followers 550 following 2.5K posts
IFEX is a nexus for free expression expertise contributed by over 100 member organisations, spanning 70 countries.

✉️ Subscribe to IFEX's weekly newsletter: https://ifex.org/#signup
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#Palestine 🇵🇸 After Shireen Abu Akleh was killed by Israeli forces, #disinformation flooded online spaces to distort the truth and protect those responsible. Her case shows how lies help entrench #impunity for crimes against journalists. buff.ly/do3RNAo
January 13, 2026 at 3:30 PM
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#Pakistan 🇵🇰 Ayesha Mirza writes about how online attacks targeted even dead women. “Disinformation continues to flourish, reinforcing the same patriarchal controls that seek to limit women’s presence in the public sphere.” @digitalrightspk.bsky.social

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January 13, 2026 at 2:02 PM
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#Turkey 🇹🇷 @bianet-eng.bsky.social reports that a prosecutor is seeking long prison terms for “bianet” editor Tuğçe Yılmaz, and others, over their contributions to pro-Kurdish publications. All 7 defendants are accused of "aiding an armed terrorist organisation". buff.ly/u2LBnDS
January 13, 2026 at 12:02 PM
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#Sudan 🇸🇩 The Rapid Support Forces have held journalist Muammar Ibrahim incommunicado since October 2025, with no information on his health or legal status.

IFEX joins @pressfreedom.bsky.social and partners call for his immediate release. buff.ly/1s8xRfN
January 12, 2026 at 8:02 PM
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#Uganda 🇺🇬 Alarmed by the attack on BBS cameraman Ivan Mbadi, HRNJ-Uganda warns that this rise in violence, threatens press freedom, ahead of elections. buff.ly/9cNggWu
January 12, 2026 at 6:30 PM
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#Iran 🇮🇷 As protests continue, authorities impose internet shutdowns, surveillance, and censorship to suppress dissent. @article19.bsky.social warns these tactics block access to information and shut down peaceful mobilisation and human rights reporting.

🔗 buff.ly/glaiyB6
“The methods used are not new – in recent years, the regime has imposed nationwide internet shutdowns and pervasive digital surveillance, blocked major social media platforms, and passed restrictive laws that criminalise criticism of the government and aim to control public narratives.” ARTICLE 19
January 12, 2026 at 5:02 PM
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#Ukraine 🇺🇦 After exposing and eco-crime, environmental journalist Olena Mudra became the target of a coordinated online smear campaign that put her safety at risk. Read about her case in our profile. buff.ly/e5LM9ek
January 12, 2026 at 3:30 PM
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#EU 🇪🇺 IFEX joins over 70 groups in stressing that structural measures are essential to safeguard Europe’s democracy, uphold its sovereignty, and protect citizens and publishers from Google’s ongoing abuse of dominance. buff.ly/BXbWY7F
January 12, 2026 at 12:01 PM
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#Bahrain 🇧🇭 A #UK Supreme Court case will test whether Bahrain can use state immunity to escape responsibility for spying on dissidents with commercial #spyware, a ruling that could reshape accountability for digital repression, reports ADHRB. buff.ly/aokzSUo
January 11, 2026 at 7:01 PM
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This week in #FreeExpression updates:

🔹 #Gaza: digital economy collapses amid blockade and telecom destruction
🔹 #Europe: 149 journalists behind bars at the turn of the year
🔹 #Afghanistan: media freedom violations surge

📬 Read more #IFEXThisWeek: buff.ly/jL1rdUI
January 11, 2026 at 2:01 PM
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#Ukraine 🇺🇦 IMI has published the results of its survey of media professionals, who nominate the 'best journalists of 2025' and name their most trusted Ukrainian news sources. buff.ly/XXZ0Qr6
January 11, 2026 at 12:00 PM
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This week in #FreeExpression news:

🔹 #Venezuela: calls to free political prisoners and protect dissent
🔹 #Iran: protests continue amid intensifying repression
🔹 Tackling #AI misuse in #UN peace and security work

📬 Read more #IFEXThisWeek: buff.ly/jL1rdUI
January 10, 2026 at 2:00 PM
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#France 🇫🇷 @indexoncensorship.org reports on how changes to Meta's moderation guidelines and practices actually make it easier to target minorities online, and could lead to the closure of a French LGBTQI+ cabaret. buff.ly/jhGX5hT
January 10, 2026 at 12:00 PM
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#Palestine 🇵🇸 A new @7amleh.bsky.social report says Israel’s blockade and destruction of telecom and power infrastructure collapsed Gaza’s digital economy,cutting people off from work, income, and access to information. buff.ly/SUVN887 #ReconnectGaza
January 9, 2026 at 8:02 PM
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#Pakistan 🇵🇰 Women in digital spaces are often met with online harassment and abuse intended to silence them. An overview of the online gender-based violence experienced by women content creators and journalists in the country.

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“Since I’ve been active on social media for many years, it became very clear to me that a large portion of the abuse was directed at me simply because of my gender.” Vlogger and journalist Laiba Zainab
January 9, 2026 at 5:04 PM
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#Azerbaijan 🇦🇿 2025 saw the crackdown on opposition voices intensify. @hrw.org calls on the authorities to "immediately release all individuals detained solely for peaceful political activity, [and] lift restrictions on political opposition". buff.ly/fME6KG8
January 9, 2026 at 12:01 PM
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#Oman 🇴🇲 After ISS detention over an X post, authorities sentenced human rights defender Talib Al-Saedi to prison under the Cybercrime Law. @gulfcentre4hr.bsky.social says the ruling reflects a systematic pattern of repression and urges it be overturned. buff.ly/XwdPopq
January 8, 2026 at 8:02 PM
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#Venezuela 🇻🇪 Espacio Público joins local organisations orgs to call on the release of all political prisoners as part of a real democratisation process. (In Spanish)

🔗 t.co/vc89inChYH
“Any progress toward the redemocratisation of Venezuela must begin with the full release of all persons imprisoned for political, civil and military reasons, in accordance with international human rights standards.” Espacio Público
January 8, 2026 at 5:00 PM
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#Europe 🌐 "We refuse to accept the normalisation of the surveillance of people on the move" - read how @privacyinternational.org and partners have advocated for the rights of migrants by safeguarding their privacy and protecting their data. buff.ly/pvjdp9y
January 8, 2026 at 2:02 PM
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#UAE 🇦🇪 Emirati authorities bear responsibility for the death of political prisoner Ali Abdullah Fath Ali al-Khaja after years of arbitrary detention, torture, and medical neglect, exposing systemic repression, says ADHRB. buff.ly/5iiAQ3y #UAE94
January 7, 2026 at 8:01 PM
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#Ghana 🇬🇭 The MFWA warns that state-backed arrests of bloggers and activists are resurrecting the very criminal libel laws the country repealed. buff.ly/Pkhmq4b
“The current administration’s first-resort reliance on high handed deployments of national security operatives and the police to arrest and detain critics represents a gravedigging betrayal of that freedom of expression legacy.” Media Foundation for West Africa
January 7, 2026 at 5:02 PM
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#Cambodia 🇰🇭 Five environmental defenders from Mother Nature have now been waiting for more than a year for their appeal hearing for a July 2024 conviction. CCHR Cambodia has assessed that several fair trial rights of these activists have not been upheld

buff.ly/Hw99cgR
January 7, 2026 at 3:30 PM
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#Ukraine 🇺🇦 IMI reports that #Russia has committed 870 crimes against Ukrainian media since the start of the full-scale invasion. These crimes include the killing of 15 journalists, the wounding of 46, and the kidnapping of 29. buff.ly/Aq6k1eC
January 7, 2026 at 12:02 PM
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#Palestine 🇵🇸 MADA condemns the arrest of journalist Enas Ikhlawi after Israeli occupation forces raided her home, saying it is part of a systematic policy of arbitrary detention targeting Palestinian journalists, including women.

(In Arabic) buff.ly/x627dfh
January 6, 2026 at 8:02 PM
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#Global 🌐 After recording the killings of 67 journalists in 2025, @rsf.org decries the failure of international organisations and governments to effectively protect the press.

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"Key witnesses to history, journalists have gradually become collateral victims, inconvenient eyewitnesses, bargaining chips, pawns in diplomatic games, men and women to be ‘eliminated.’" - Thibaut Bruttin, Reporters Without Borders
January 6, 2026 at 5:02 PM