A few hours after the Inter American Press Association named the well-known blogger Yoani Sánchez as their new freedom of expression delegate in Cuba, the Miami Herald and other news outlets reported that the journalist was detained on Thursday with a group of other dissidents.
The courts have become the greatest hurdle to freedom of expression in Brazil, according to international groups like Inter American Press Association and Freedom House. If judicial offensives are a hurdle for large media organizations, any participation in the political sphere by small websites and blogs can be a death sentence.
Despite opposition from journalism groups, the president of Costa Rica announced a new law would take effect punishing journalists and citizens with up to 10 years in prison for releasing "political secrets," according to the newspaper El País on Wednesday, Nov. 7.
The Brazil's Chamber of Deputies, the lower legislative house, approved two cyber-crime laws and set a date for the vote on an Internet Bill of Rights, reported the magazine Época on Nov. 7.
The dismissal of an online journalist in Colombia for writing an opinion column about the public relations practices of a Canadian oil company, as Clases de Periodismo reported, sparked outcry and reignited the debate about the influence of publicity on news coverage.
Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez was released on Friday Oct. 5, after being detained for 30 hours, according to the Los Angeles Times and the blogger on her Twitter account.
The government of Uruguay ordered the closing of 74 community broadcasters for noncompliance with a law past last Nov. 1, reported the newspaper El País. According to the government, 20 of the broadcasters were proselytizing, added the newspaper.
The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) condemned another multi-million dollar charge brought against the newspaper La Prensa in Panama that reported on the Ochy Diez business group's contracts with the government of President Ricardo Martinelli.
The director of the public television channel in Bogotá, Colombia, refused to hand over a list of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual or intersexual (LGBTI) employees requested by a city councilman, reported Caracol Radio.
The director of the public television channel in Bogotá, Colombia, refused to hand over a list of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual or intersexual (LGBTI) employees requested by a city councilman, reported Caracol Radio.
A Venezuelan deputy requested the government analyze the supposed negative impacts caused by the media during the Oct. 7 presidential elections in the country, reported the Press and Society Institute.
The distribution of the newspapers Clarín and La Nación were blocked in Buenos Aires, Argentina by members of the Newspaper and Magazine Vendors Union in the early morning of Monday, Oct. 29, reported Clarín.