The number of journalists jailed worldwide for their work rose for the second year with Internet bloggers and online reporters now one third of those incarcerated, a U.S.-based media watchdog said on Thursday.
A Committee to Protect Journalists census found that a record 134 journalists were in jail on December 1 — an increase of nine from the 2005 tally — in 24 countries with China, Cuba, Eritrea and Ethiopia the top four nations to imprison media.
While print reporters, editors and photographers again made up the largest number of jailed journalists — with 67 cases — there were 49 imprisoned Internet journalists, making them the second biggest category, the New York-based committee said.
“We’re at a crucial juncture in the fight for press freedom because authoritarian states have made the Internet a major front in their effort to control information,” Committee Executive Director Joel Simon said in a statement.
“China is challenging the notion that the Internet is impossible to control or censor, and if it succeeds there will be far-ranging implications, not only for the medium but for press freedom all over the world.”
