Iran bars foreiwi media from reporting on protests - Conunittee to Protect http://cpJorg/2OO9/O6/iran-bars-forei i-media-from-reporting-on-protest
C Committee to ProtectJournalists
Defending Journal is: s Worldwide
Iran bars foreign media from reporting on protests
New York, June 16, 2009--The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the Iranian government's decision to bar
foreign journalists from leaving their offices to report, film, or take photographs--a restriction intended to prevent news
coverage of protests over the disputed presidential election.
The announcement of President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad's victory on Saturday ignited demonstrations in different cities
across Iran as the defeated reformist candidate, Mir-Hossein Mousavi, and his supporters challenged the results.
The Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, which accredits foreign media working in Iran, ordered foreign journalists
and Iranians working with foreign media not to cover the demonstrations, The Associated Press reported
( http://www.google.com/hostednewslap/article/ALec iM5iGSJEAPs r2T2wxsL5G3t4z-iaiQD98RP8GO2) .
“Since Friday, Iranian authorities have actively attempted to prevent media from covering news throughout the country,”
said CPJ Middle East and North Africa Program Coordinator Mohamed Abdel Dayem. “We call on the authorities to
immediately stop these acts and guarantee that foreign journalists, who were invited in by the government to cover the
election, have unfettered access to the news.”
In the past five days, Iranian authorities have increased control (http://cpi.orci/2009/06/iranian-authorities-crack-down-on-
media-in-electio.php) over the flow of information by clamping down on media and harassing journalists, according to
news reports.
OpenNet Initiative--a research project on Internet censorship conducted jointly by Harvard, Toronto, Oxford, and
Cambridge universities--reported (http:iopennet.net/blog/2009/06/cracking-down-digital-communication-and-political-
organizing-iran) yesterday that YouTube, Twitter, DailyMotion and Facebook, along with several Web sites aligned with
opposition candidates, have been blocked in Iran in recent days.
Hours before polls opened on Friday, SMS, or short message service, was disrupted in Iran, according to local
( http://www.breakingtweets.com/2009/O6/1 1/sms-system-down-in-iran-just-hours-before-election/) news accounts.
Mobile phone service was shut down in Tehran on Saturday, although the service was restored on Sunday. SMS
remains inoperable in Tehran, according to OpenNet Initiative.
News groups such as Reuters (http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE55F2S22O09061 6) , AP
( http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALegM5iGSJEAPs r2T2wxsL5G3t4z-iaiQD98RP8GO2) , BBC
( http:llnews.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/m iddle east/8103269.stm), CBS https://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/O6/1 6/world
/ worldwatch/entry5O9l 21 9.shtml) , and Bloomberci (http://www.bloom be rg.com/apps/news?pid=20601 087&
sid=aJpiE35TtLBc) , reported that their journalists in Iran have been ordered not to cover protests in Tehran. Press cards
have been declared invalid, the BBC reported (http:llnews.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle east/8103577.stm) .
“No reporting activities should take place without coordination and permission of this office,” Bloomberg quoted a faxed
statement from the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance as saying. “Reporters should not take part in news events
1 of 2 03/08 2010 14:3 1
Iran bars foreiwi media from reporting on protests - Committee to Protect http://cpj.org/2009/06/iran-bars-foreigi-media-from-reporting-on-protest .
that have not been announced by this office.”
On Sunday, the BBC reported (http:llwww.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theeditors/2009/06/stop the blocking now.html) that its
Farsi-language television and radio signals were being disrupted in Iran and throughout the Middle East and Europe. The
BBC concluded that the interference was emanating from Iran.
The Dubai-based pan-Arab AI-Arabiya news channel reported on Sunday that Iranian authorities had shut down
( hftp:llwww.alarabiya.net/articIesI2009IO6Il4/75922.html) its Tehran bureau for a week without explanation. An Al-Arabiya
correspondent in Tehran “was asked by the Ministry of Information to change a report and then notified that the offices
would be closed for a week,” the channel reported.
June 16, 2009 4:21 PM ET I Permalink (http://cpj.org/2009/06/iran-bars-foreign-media-from-reporting-on-protests.php )
2 of 2 03/08 2010 14:3 1
