IFJ Asia Pacific
The IFJ, the world's largest organisation of journalists, represents 600,000 media professionals from 187 trade unions and associations in more than 140 countries.
- #Maldives: The Maldivian ‘Media and Broadcasting Commission Act’, passed in September 2025, has been used for the first time to remove editorial content, amid increasing violent threats against independent journalists, including the President of the Maldives Journalists Association (MJA),Ahmed Naif.
- #Philippines: Journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio has been found guilty of financing terrorism and sentenced to at least 12 years in prison, after spending nearly six years behind bars in pre-trial detention.
- The IFJ Asia Pacific Regional Bulletin 🌏 for January is out now! This month, the IFJ places a focus on the annual list of journalists killed around the world in the Killed List 2025. Read the full bulletin now 👇
- #Vietnam: New legislative amendments passed by Vietnam’s parliament will pose significant safety risks for journalists, with media outlets forced to disclose their sources and further controls on content by amendments to the country’s state secrets law. @ifjglobal.bsky.social
- #Pakistan: Dawn Media Group formally closed its Urdu digital platform DawnNews.tv on December 1, terminating the channel’s 12 media workers. @ifjglobal.bsky.social
- #China🇨🇳: Chinese independent writer, photojournalist and filmmaker Du Bin has remained incarcerated by the Chinese authorities since being taken from his Beijing home on October 15. @ifjglobal.bsky.social
- #India: Two journalists were assaulted by a group of attackers on November 28 while investigating a corruption case at a the Regional Transport Office (RTO) in Madhya Pradesh in Central India.
- #SriLanka🇱🇰: A Sri Lankan minister has directed police to use emergency powers against individuals criticising the country’s president amid the country’s worst natural disaster in decades.
- #Vietnam: Journalist Do Van Nga has been charged with disseminating anti-state propaganda on November 17 after disappearing following his arrival at Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat International Airport earlier that month. @ifjglobal.bsky.social
- The IFJ Asia Pacific Regional Bulletin 🌏 for December is out now! This month, the IFJ places a focus on its global campaign for the elimination of violence against women in the media. Read the full bulletin now 👇
- #India: India’s controversial Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023 came into effect on November 14 amid backlash from critics who say the law will increase government surveillance, restrict freedom of information, and weaken press freedom. @ifjglobal.bsky.social
- #Mongolia: In a landmark decision, Mongolia’s Constitutional Court ruled on November 25 that a controversial provision on ‘false information’ in the country’s Criminal Code violated its constitution. @ifjglobal.bsky.social
- #Thailand: In a case of transnational repression, Australian journalist Murray Hunter was indicted on criminal defamation charges by Bangkok’s Criminal Court in Thailand on November 17 at the request of Malaysian authorities. @withmeaa.bsky.social @ifjglobal.bsky.social
- #India: Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) police raided the Jammu office of the Kashmir Times on November 20, accusing the newspaper of promoting secessionist ideology. @ifjglobal.bsky.social
- #Malaysia: Malaysia’s Prime Minister, Anwar Ibrahim, called on the country’s media companies to provide fair pay and just financial compensation for journalists’ professional work during a meeting with Sabah media workers on November 16. @ifjglobal.bsky.social
- #Samoa: Leading Samoan independent newspaper, The Samoa Observer, was formally banned from government press conferences by the country’s prime minister on November 17, in response to alleged misleading coverage.
- #China🇨🇳: Beijing’s High Court has dismissed an appeal to overturn a seven-year sentence for journalist Dong Yuyu, who has been jailed since 2022 on charges of espionage. @ifjglobal.bsky.social
- #Myanmar: Myanmar’s military filed legal charges against the exile-run Assistance Association for Myanmar-based Independent Journalists (AAMIJ) News on November 10 under the junta’s ‘election protection law’, as its contributor Myat Thu Kyaw continues to languish in jail.
- #Indonesia: The IFJ is proud to stand with Aliansi Jurnalis Independen as it won a landmark press freedom case for the independent outlet, Tempo, against Indonesia’s Agriculture Minister. This is what happens when media workers stand together and unions stand strong against the powerful. #UnionWin
- #Philippines🇵🇭: A court has dismissed two cases, including a charge of murder, against jailed community journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio, with remaining allegations of terrorism financing and illegal possession of firearms still pending. @ifjglobal.bsky.social www.ifj.org/media-centre...
- #Pakistan🇵🇰: Four suspects were arrested on October 27 for the killing of journalist and anchor Imtiaz Mir, who died on September 28 after sustaining critical injuries in a gun attack in Karachi the week prior.
- #Indonesia 🇮🇩: In a landmark press freedom case, independent media outlet Tempo awaits a court verdict in a lawsuit brought by Indonesia’s Agriculture Minister over an allegedly damaging report on the country’s rice quality policy.
- On the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, twelve press freedom groups, including IFJ affiliates CamboJA, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, and Aliansi Jurnalis Independen, urged Cambodia’s government to investigate all crimes against journalists.
- Reposted by IFJ Asia Pacific#IDEI2025📢: Since the start of 2025, 99 journalists have been killed. Rising violence against media professionals threatens press freedom everywhere. We demand justice and accountability: fighting impunity is a universal responsibility. #EndImpunity ➡️ www.ifj.org/end-impunity...
- Reposted by IFJ Asia Pacific🔴 On the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, we asked families of killed journalists what #impunity means to them and why it is crucial to prosecute the perpetrators. Fighting impunity is a universal responsibility. #IDEI2025 youtube.com/shorts/vEuU9...
- The IFJ Asia Pacific Regional Bulletin 🌏 for November is out now! This month, the IFJ highlights the testimony of Sandya Ekneligoda, Sri Lankan human rights defender and wife of forcibly disappeared investigative journalist and cartoonist Prageeth Ekneligoda. Read the full bulletin now 👇
- #Pakistan: The IFJ's Pakistan Media Labour Rights Bulletin for October is out now, highlighting the ongoing campaign for decent work in Pakistan’s media, including key cases, success stories and industry developments. Read more here 👇
- #Myanmar🇲🇲: The International Federation of Journalists and more than 300 global union federations, trade unions, civil society, and human rights organisations on October 24 called on governments to outrightly reject the Myanmar military junta’s upcoming planned ‘sham’ election.
- #Philippines: Filipino radio broadcaster Noel Bellen Samar died on October 21 after sustaining gunshot wounds in a shooting attack a day earlier on October 20 in the northern island of Luzon.
- Asia-Pacific countries participated in the Right to Strike Advisory Proceedings before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) from the 6-8 October 2025. Read more about the campaign here🔗: www.ituc-csi.org/right-to-str... #LabourRights #tradeunionmovement #therighttostrike
- #Afghanistan🇦🇫: Afghan media worker Abdul Zahir Safi was killed in a civilian area of Kabul after an alleged airstrike on the city on October 16. www.ifj.org/media-centre...
- October 16 marked 50 years since five journalists were killed in the remote Timorese town of Balibo, and still no one has been held accountable for their deaths. #PressFreedom#timorleste theconversation.com/its-been-50-...
- #Afghanistan: Afghan journalist Abdul Ghafoor Abed was killed and another journalist was wounded during cross-border fighting between Taliban and Pakistani forces on October 14.
- IFJ's South Asia Media Bulletin for October 2025 is out now! This month, the IFJ places a focus on the Sri Lankan government's unfulfilled pledge of media freedom. Read the full bulletin below:
- Following statements from IFJ and @withmeaa.bsky.social, Australian journalist Michael West explores the evolving test case in Australia regarding the silencing of journalists by lobby groups. #PressFreedom #Australia
- The IFJ is closely monitoring the case of Australian journalist Hunter Murray, who was arrested in Thailand on September 29 over alleged defamatory social media posts. He was released on bail the following day and is due to stand trial on November 17. #PressFreedom
- The IFJ Asia Pacific Regional Bulletin🌏for October is out now! The IFJ puts a focus on the prolonged and egregious incarceration of two women journalists, Frenchie Mae Cumpio and Zhang Zhan. Read the full bulletin now 👇
- Delhi court lifts censorship order on senior journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta which had restrained him from reporting on Adani. #PressFreedom #India www.tribuneindia.com/news/india/d...
- #Myanmar: Journalist Mu Dra was abducted from her home in Myanmar’s Rakhine state by the rebel Arakan Army on September 20.
- #IFJBlog: Indonesia’s democracy is in decline as the media community faces violence, censorship and mass job layoffs. It is now more critical than ever to have civil society on side to defend journalists as the guardians of truth and democracy, writes Nany Afrida. Read more:
- The ABC has been ordered to pay a fine of $150,000 to journalist Antoinette Lattouf for her unlawful termination. #PressFreedom #Australia www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09...
- Chinese citizen journalist Zhang Zhan is sentenced to another four years in prison for reporting on the COVID-19 pandemic in Wuhan. #PressFreedom #China www.chosun.com/english/worl...
- According to research press freedom is the lowest it has been in the last 50 years. #PressFreedom www.dhakatribune.com/opinion/op-e...
- Bangladesh Press Secretary warns that labelling legitimate protests as 'mobs' undermines protest rights, and advocated for the implementation of a media wage board. #PressFreedom #Bangladesh www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/p...
- Chinese citizen journalist and former lawyer, Zhang Zhan, will face trial for a second time, after being jailed for reporting on the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan. #PressFreedom #China www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...
- #Nepal: Amid an escalation of violence against journalists and media outlets during Nepal’s mass ‘Gen-Z’ anti-corruption protests, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has documented at least 42 media rights violations since September 8.
- #Maldives: The Maldivian parliament has voted to pass its widely condemned ‘media control bill’ on September 16, granting sweeping new government powers to regulate the country’s media industry, amid escalating harassment and detainment of critical journalists and media workers.
- #IFJBlog: A two-day uprising in Nepal on September 8 and 9 saw youth-led anti-corruption protests over a sweeping social-media ban erupt into deadly state violence, toppling PM KP Oli and installing an interim citizen-led government, writes Ujjwal Acharya. Read the IFJ Blog in the link below:
- IFJ's South Asia Media Bulletin for September 2025 is out now! Top stories include nationwide protests in Nepal, advocacy in the Maldives against 'media control bill', Bangladeshi journalists under threat and IFJ-led journalist union trainings in Pakistan.
- A proposed 'Media control bill' will be voted on by Maldivian parliament on Monday September 15, after reporters were forcibly removed from a committee meeting on Wednesday, and a week after 21 media outlets called for its withdrawal. #Maldives #PressFreedom maldivesindependent.com/politics/med...
- #Pakistan: Three journalists were allegedly attacked at a press conference held by Aleema Khan, the sister of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan, in Rawalpindi on September 8.
- #Nepal: Four journalists were injured in Kathmandu on September 8 during violent clashes with police over the country’s controversial social media bill and the recent banning of 26 social media platforms. @ifjglobal.bsky.social
