Attacks on the Press in 2010 - Committee to Protect Journalists

Europe and Central Asia: Analysisjust as mysterious, unsolved crimes of violence silence the region’s onlinejournalists.While blunter strategies catch the eye of Western governments andmedia, Runet crackdowns attract far less attention. Thousands of newsarticles in 2010 traced crackdowns in Iran and China, but Google Newsrecorded fewer than 80 stories on Runet censorship. Given CPJ researchshowing ongoing violence against online reporters, intimidation of Webjournals, and technological attacks on independent websites, the dearthof news on Runet censorship shows not the absence of repression but itsinsidious effectiveness. Without international attention and condemnation,these dangerous tactics are likely to become entrenched in the region andto spread elsewhere in the world.Nina Ognianova is CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator.She led CPJ missions to Russia and Kazakhstan in 2010. Danny O’Brien isCPJ’s San Francisco-based Internet advocacy coordinator.183