2015: The 10 most censored countries

THE NEW YORK-BASED Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has listed 10 countries which have the worst record of censorship of media in its annual publication, Attacks on the Press.

Eritrea and North Korea were the first and second most censored countries worldwide, according to the CPJ report. The list was based on research into the use of tactics ranging from imprisonment and repressive laws to harassment of journalists and restrictions on Internet access.

In Eritrea, President Isaias Afwerki has succeeded in his campaign to crush independent journalism, creating a media climate so oppressive that even reporters for state-run news outlets live in constant fear of arrest, according to CPJ. Eritrea is Africa’s worst jailer of journalists, with at least 23 behind bars—none of whom has been tried in court or even charged with a crime, according to CPJ. Internet services are very limited in Eritrea.

In North Korea, only 9.7 percent of the population has cell phones, a number that excludes access to phones smuggled in from China. “The state has such a tight grip on the news agenda that newsreel was reedited to remove Kim Jong-un’s disgraced uncle from the archives after his execution,” CPJ said.

The tactics used by Eritrea and North Korea are mirrored to varying degrees in other heavily censored countries. To keep their grip on power, repressive regimes use a combination of media monopoly, harassment, spying, threats of journalist imprisonment, and restriction of journalists’ entry into or movements within their countries.

Imprisonment is the most effective form of intimidation and harassment used against journalists.

Third on the list was Saudi Arabia followed by Ethiopia, Azerbaijan, Vietnam, Iran, China, and Burma (Myanmar) and Cuba.

China, the 8th most censored country , was also described as the worst jailers of journalists worldwide.

More than half of the journalists imprisoned globally are charged with criticizing the state, including those in China. The 44 journalists imprisoned in China—the largest figure for China since CPJ began its annual census in 1990—were held on antistate charges. Thirty-two of China’s 44 jailed journalists worked online.