Annual watchdog report identifies China as worst offender for jailing journalists

Number charged with ‘false news’ increases to 30 per cent

Journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were jailed in Myanmar for their reporting on the Rohingya refugee crisis (Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)

China has displaced Turkey as the most oppressive country for journalists, according to a report by the Committee to Protect Journalists.

At least 250 journalists were imprisoned worldwide in 2019, with China jailing 48 of those.

The report said imprisonment in China “has steadily increased since President Xi Jinping consolidated political control of the country”.

It added: ”A crackdown in Xinjiang province – where a million members of Muslim ethnic groups have been sent to internment camps – has led to the arrests of dozens of journalists, including some apparently jailed for journalistic activity years earlier.”

Turkey was responsible for locking up 47 journalists, while Saudi Arabia and Egypt jailed 26 each, Eritrea 16, Vietnam 12 and Iran 11.

The number of those arrested were accused of producing “false news” has increased to 30 per cent, the report said.

It noted ”authoritarianism, instability, and protests” had led to an increase in the number of journalists imprisoned in the Middle East.

Around 8 per cent of those jailed globally were women, down from 13 per cent last year.

The subjects most likely to land journalists in jail were politics, human rights and corruption, the report added.

“CPJ believes that journalists should not be imprisoned for doing their jobs,” the committee said.

The report was a snapshot of the journalists imprisoned on 1 December each year, it added, and does not include those who have been released earlier or taken by non-state entities such as militant groups.