How Post 9/11 Antiterror Laws are Being Globally to Crush Press Freedom Panel

A moderated panel discussion will examine how in the years since 9/11, often at the behest of the United States, foreign nations have passed broad counterterrorism laws that have been used in a number of instances to prosecute and jail journalists and citizen bloggers for writing things deemed critical of the government. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, a record-high of 231 journalists were in prison in 2012. Of that number, at least 132 journalists were imprisoned on anti-state charges such as terrorism, treason, and subversion.

Confirmed panelists include Letta Tayler, senior terrorism and counterterrorism researcher at Human Rights Watch; Mohamed Keita, Africa Advocacy Coordinator for Committee to Project Journalists; and Frank Jannuzi, deputy executive director of Amnesty International USA. The press freedom committee will also be inviting the State Department to send a representative to the panel to discuss the department’s thinking on foreign counterterrorism laws and its reactions to the crackdown on global press freedoms under the laws that it has frequently advocated for.

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