Survey of laws and bills that curb and punish disinformation and fake news on the Internet shows growth in Latin American countries. Experts warn of the risk of censorship and self-censorship of journalists.
Senior management has been able to resolve temporarily the corporation's payments so that the newspapers can continue running, but this is unsustainable as time goes by if the accounts continue frozen for years while the process lasts, said Rita Vásquez, director of La Prensa.
Messages leaked by an anonymous group allegedly show that former Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela sustained an operation during his tenure to carry out online attacks on journalists.
Journalists from Nicaragua, Mexico and Panama are now among the 54 professionals from Latin America in the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).
Estrella de Panamá and El Siglo will not be able to conduct business transactions with U.S. citizens and companies starting July 13, 2017 following the recent decision of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the U.S. Treasury Department to not review their operating license, according to La Estrella de Panamá.
Freedom of expression organizations in Panama are on alert after the Public Prosecutor's Office disclosed it is investigating whether money laundering occurred during the purchase of a media company.
Daily obstacles motivated Panamanian journalists Ana Graciela Méndez and Alfonso Grimaldo to create El Tabulario – a project, launched at the end of May, which collects, analyzes and disseminates public data with the aim of promoting transparency in the country.
167 years of Panamanian journalistic history could come to an end as the continuity of operations at newspapers La Estrella de Panamá and El Siglo is uncertain due to a legal problem with the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
Dutch journalist Okke Ornstein who is jailed in Panama on charges of criminal defamation will be released by the Panamanian president in the midst of an international campaign for his release, according to his supporters. Ornstein is on a list from the Ministry of Government of persons to receive a reduction of sentence from the President of Panama in the coming days. However, the announcement does not provide further details.
Currently, at least 250 journalists worldwide have been detained in relation to their reporting work, according to recent reports by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and international nonprofit Reporters Without Borders (RSF).