On Thursday, Sept. 22, two Peruvian journalists accused of defamation were sentenced to two years in prison, although the sentences were suspended, reported the Press and Society Institute.
President of the Block of Venezuelan Press, an association of Venezuelan newspaper editors, believes covering the 2012 presidential election will be especially difficult for an independent press already under attack.
Two Mexicans accused of terrorism and sabotage for posting false rumors over Facebook and Twitter were freed Sept. 21 after spending a month in jail, reported Reuters.
With two votes in favor and one abstention, a court in Ecuador upheld a sentence of three years in prison and $40 million in damages against an ex-columnist and three directors of the newspaper El Universo.
A court in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, sentenced journalist Paulo Henrique Amorim, host of the show Domingo Espetacular on Rede Record, to pay damages amounting to more than $54,000 to the lawyer Nélio Machado.
Reporters Without Borders listed Mexico and four other countries in an interactive Internet documentary titled "In the Heart of Censorship" to raise awareness about violations of freedom of expression.
Judge Leonel Pires Ohlweiler of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil overturned the injunction preventing the RBS media group from releasing the name and image of a councilman accused of corruption.
The judge of Nova Lima in Belo Horizonte, Brazil prohibited the circulation of the magazine Viver Brasil, reported the Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism (Abraji).
With authorities unable to identify the two bodies hanged on a bridge in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, it is difficult to determine if the victims were targeted for using a blog, Twitter, Facebook or some other social media to report on organized crime.
The Ecuadorean Telecommunications Superintendency (Supertel) announced that it would seek to punish seven radio broadcasters for a simultaneous broadcast of a debate on freedom of expression without first notifying the authorities.
Raúl Flores Castillo, director of the Chilean digital magazine Dilemas, claimed he was detained by police for covering a student protest in the capital of Santiago on Sept. 8, the magazine reported.
Following criticism, Panamanian Representative Rubén Frías Ortega of the Cambio Democrático party will withdraw his bill that would regulate journalists' salaries, reported the newspaper La Estrella.