#Egypt: CPJ & others expressed serious concern over AppLogic Networks’ (formerly Sandvine) failure to provide full transparency about its withdrawal from Egypt and to offer meaningful remedies to those affected by its past business in the country.
cpj.org/2026/02/cpj-...
“The credibility of @timep.bsky.social carried my work into rooms where people had never heard my name but were willing to listen, engage, and later cite my research.”
Wondering what it's like to be a Bassem Sabry Fellow? Catch my friend and former colleague @mandour.bsky.social's new video ⤵️
I’m honored to join an incredible panel of experts to discuss the global rise of drone warfare. I’ll be speaking about how the proliferation of drones and AI-driven decision support systems (AI-DSS) is reshaping regional security—and what it means for the safety of journalists.
While the global attention focuses on #Yemen and the #Houthis, both supporters and critics of the U.S. attacks against the group are ignoring how the group is using this moment to escalate its attacks against the Yemeni people. Here's an example:
cpj.org/2025/04/hout...
Instead of allowing experts to share their insights on how to address Egypt’s current economic crisis, the Egyptian authorities are imprisoning one of the country’s most brilliant economic minds—over 60 years old—in a cell infested with large rats that pose serious health risks.
The Secretary of State should be aware that U.S. students and researchers abroad are actively writing and researching about the countries they reside in. His remarks essentially give these governments a green light to arrest or deport U.S. students and researchers if they disagree with their work.
4- Voice of America has long been the voice of those who risk everything to report under authoritarian regimes. Cutting its staff doesn’t just silence those voices—it leaves the American public and policymakers knowing less and understanding even less about the world they shape.
3- I think of its fearless coverage of Mohammed al-Ghamdi, the Saudi cartoonist sentenced to 23 years behind bars for daring to speak truth to power.
2- I think of how it was the first U.S. media outlet to report on the case of Ashraf Omar, the Egyptian cartoonist who has languished in prison for eight months.
I
1- When I think of Voice of America, I think of its unwavering commitment to telling the stories of persecuted journalists in the Middle East—voices silenced at home but amplified here for the American public and policymakers.
Immigrants legally in the United States on either a green card or a student visa may be forced to make some of the same calculations as those who live or work in authoritarian states abroad – but about our own government.
Is it safe for me to speak my mind? Is it worth the risk? Will I be targeted?
Relaxed rules of engagement mean less safety for journalists covering conflict zones, especially given U.S. military involvement in places like Yemen.
2- Now, the threat comes from the U.S. administration itself. International students are losing their voices twice—first due to authoritarian regimes at home, and now because of autocratic measures in the U.S
1- Two years ago, as an international student at a U.S. university, I wrote about how transnational repression from China, Russia, and Egypt had been threatening international students and academic freedom.
#Egypt: In a joint letter led by CPJ, 50 prominent human rights leaders, Nobel Prize laureates, writers, and public figures have called on Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to grant a presidential pardon to Egyptian-British writer Alaa Abdelfattah.
cpj.org/2025/03/cpj-...
As an Egyptian, I find it amusing to see the same rhetoric that Sisi has used in Egypt for the past decade—blaming citizens' inaction for economic problems—now being echoed in the U.S. Why don’t more Americans raise chickens in their backyards? Because most of them don’t even have backyards!!
URGENT ⚡ ‘Risk to Life’ for Woman on Hunger Strike Over Son Jailed in Egypt #FreeAlaa #PressFreedom www.nytimes.com/2025/02/27/w...
Lapid's proposal to pay Egypt's foreign debt, $150B, in return for Egypt controlling Gaza, fails to understand that , regardless of incentives/pressure, Sisi cannot afford to lose a single Egyptian soldier in Gaza. This would spark dissent within Egypt’s military, threatening his power.
Targeting a media outlet based abroad is a clear act of transnational repression. Egypt’s telecommunications service providers should recognize that their services are being weaponized to silence independent media.
cpj.org/2025/02/egyp...
The impact of Trump’s aid freeze goes beyond what we see: in many authoritarian countries, receiving foreign funding is illegal and punished by the state. Human Rights organizations and media outlets have been severely affected but are unable to speak out due to fears of government repression.
Egypt must stand against Trump's plan. While US economic aid to Egypt is under $130M, its $1.3B security assistance goes entirely to US arms manufacturers, primarily benefiting the US economy. Meanwhile, Egypt has been working for a decade to diversify its arms sales.
CPJ welcomes the re-establishment of the Egypt Human Rights Caucus and urges the U.S. Congress to prioritize addressing the escalating press freedom crisis in Egypt worldwide, as said Mohamed Mandour, Committee to Protect Journalists.
beyer.house.gov/news/documen...
If the Democratic administration had not allowed Palestinians to be killed daily in Gaza for almost 15 months, Trump would not have been able to propose displacing Palestinians as a 'better' option. Trump is turning Biden's inaction into an action plan.
2- With this trend, those leaving the CIA and other intelligence agencies could either establish new firms in the field or help authoritarian governments localize spyware production.
1- Of course, this will have many implications, including a surge in the surveillance industry. Many existing spyware companies were founded by former Mossad officers, while the UAE’s spyware capabilities were developed by former U.S. intelligence operatives.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Egypt should allow international journalists into Gaza. If Israel is blocking them to cover up its crimes, Egypt must not be complicit. Press access is crucial to counter Trump’s plan to displace Palestinians—something Egypt needs now more than ever.
www.dropsitenews.com/p/over-100-j...
The key to defeating any coup is first acknowledging that it is a coup. It takes a broad coalition—across political, judicial, and media platforms—to challenge and defeat it. Denial only strengthens it.
Americans now, more than ever, need to learn from activists and human rights movements in authoritarian contexts. Having witnessed both a military coup in Egypt and a presidential coup in Tunisia, I see striking similarities between those coups and what is happening now in the U.S.
Former U.S. Senator Bob Menendez was sentenced to 11 years in prison for accepting bribes of gold and cash and acting as an agent of Egypt—yet Egypt continues to receive its full amount of U.S. security assistance.
apnews.com/article/bob-...
The events of the past year underscore the urgent need for an unprecedented intellectual and institutional effort to decolonize journalism. Western journalism has often failed the Middle East—sometimes through its very existence, other times through its deliberate silence.