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Elena Kostyuchenko, a Russian investigative journalist living in exile, explains how reporting on Putin’s war from inside Ukraine made her a criminal in her home country – and why people in the Balkans should be wary of Moscow’s propaganda.
In “Navigating Digital Sovereignty: A Comparative Analysis of Internet Regulation in Russia and China,” the researchers delve into the intricate web of policies and technologies that define how two global powers control and manage their digital landscapes. This exploration sheds light on the Sovereign Internet Law of Russia and the Great Firewall of China, two landmark strategies aimed at asserting digital sovereignty.
The role of journalism in authoritarian and conflict-affected regions remains as crucial as it has ever been. While technological advances provide new opportunities for newsgathering, there are still plenty of pitfalls for those who are trying to convey the truth.
After the Taliban took power, the journalist Hamed fled Afghanistan with his family – via a German government admission program. The government promised to take in 1,000 particularly vulnerable people, such as journalists, every month. In reality, only a fraction make it.
As Russian independent media continues to face severe censorship following the invasion of Ukraine, the Russian Independent Media Archive (RIMA) is stepping in to preserve critical journalism for future generations. Co-founded by renowned journalist Masha Gessen and historian Ilia Venyavkin, RIMA aims to protect the work of over 55 independent media outlets from disappearing under the weight of state repression.
With beabee for media in exile, funded by MIZ Babelsberg, a team from German independent newsroom CORRECTIV and Russian podcast platform Radio Sakharov set out to develop a membership and community platform designed especially for the needs of media in exile. Using the existing open source platform beabee, the team implemented additional features to enhance security for users in countries like Russia and facilitate (anonymous) engagement.
Russia’s censorship following its 2022 invasion of Ukraine not only led to the blocking of numerous independent Russian media outlets but also social media platforms popular with their audiences. For the Fix Veronica Snoj wrote down how exiled publishers serve audiences on new platforms and educate them on tools to bypass censorship.
The Taliban’s new law on the “Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice” bans journalists from publishing or broadcasting content the de facto government believes violates Sharia law or insults Muslims. Article 17 describes several restrictions on the media, including a ban on publishing or broadcasting images of living people and animals which the Taliban consider unislamic.
Afghan media in exile remain economically fragile, even though they are a widely followed source of information, according to a report by the think tank for media professionals, The Fix, and the support fund for journalism in exile, JX Fund, created in 2022 by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and its partners.
Women Press Freedom identifies transnational repression as a significant threat to journalists who have fled authoritarian regimes, highlighting the increased use of tactics like surveillance, harassment, and violence to silence dissent beyond national borders. According to the report, 50% of exiled women journalists were targeted through transnational repression reside in the EU.
How he exiled Afghans of Amu TV are holding the Taliban to account — from 7,000 miles away. Even though it operates abroad—or perhaps because it operates abroad—Amu TV is one of the most effective chroniclers of life under Taliban rule. The Atlantic reporter Cora Engelbrecht paid a visit to their newsroom.
It is estimated that, nearly 2000 journalists have left Afghanistan since the Taliban took power in 2021. Many sought asylum in Europe and North America, while others settled in Afghanistan’s neighbouring countries. Despite severe challenges Afghan reporters in exile remain committed to keeping the flow of independent news from their homeland alive.
When the Taliban took power three years ago, the previously thriving Afghan media landscape collapsed. Many journalists were forced to leave the country and now work remotely. Others have stayed and continue their work despite all dangers. How do editorial teams in exile deal with the challenge of accessing sources on the ground?
When the opposition activist Ilya Yashin spoke after being freed from a Russian prison as part of the historic prisoner swap between Washington and Moscow, he said he had been warned never to return. But as the experiences of Russian journalists and critics already in exile show, distance from Moscow is no assurance of safety.
Siyar Sirat is a journalist with experience in various media organizations in Afghanistan. He has been living in exile for three years. For Amu TV, he wrote down how the day the Taleban took power in Kabul is haunting him.
As an exiled media outlet addressing Russian audiences, Meduza quickly fell under the Kremlin’s radar. It became one of the first media outlets the Russian authorities added to its “foreign agent” list in April 2021. For The Fix Veronica Snoj took a look at the tools the Latvia-based media outlet uses to reach its audiences in Russia.
The plight of independent journalists in Russia keeps getting worse. Apart from high-profile assassinations and arrests, there are obstacle to press freedom at every step.
Advocates estimate that hundreds of Russian journalists have fled into exile, where some continue to face transnational repression such as arrest warrants and jail terms in absentia. Those who remain are under heavy scrutiny as independent reporting hangs on by a thread.