This week in #FreeExpression: 🔹 #UnitedStates: Subpoenas hit reporters after Air Force One story. 🔹 #India: Halting messaging feature raises pre-censorship fears. 🔹 #Guinea: Journalist flees after investigation threats. Read #IFEXThisWeek: buff.ly/ZPvcpuH

#Bahrain 🇧🇭 New BCHR report: mass arbitrary arrests, child detentions, and a death under torture — Bahrain’s civic space keeps shrinking. Read the full documentation: buff.ly/TOdNBCL

#SouthSudan 🇸🇸 The Association for Media Development In South Sudan is conducting a 'Journalists Training on Election Coverage' workshop to equip reporters with necessary skills to cover electoral activities ethically and ensure all contesting candidates receive equal airtime. buff.ly/MDgfStA

#SouthAsia 🌏 A new report on cyber surveillance in South Asia explores the technologies increasingly being deployed to expand digital monitoring and control in the region. buff.ly/aBKNVKI

#Venezuela 🇻🇪 Espacio Publico documents June's 19 cases and 26 violations against press freedom, including rapid journalist detentions, social media account closures, and militarised earthquake response restricting independent coverage in La Guaira. (In Spanish) t.co/5tQz38nbTb

#Egypt 🇪🇬 AFTE joins 31 human rights organizations in a joint statement calling for the release of Ahmed Douma the poet and activist who spent nearly a decade in arbitrary detention. buff.ly/uZbRf9K

#Nepal 🇳🇵 Freedom Forum documented two defamation cases targeting the work of journalists. It warned that “criminalizing journalistic work and news content has a chilling effect on investigative journalism and undermines press freedom.” buff.ly/xZVueno

#Ecuador 🇪🇨 @derechosdigitales.org discusses public digital infrastructure on Radio Pichincha, highlighting the importance of accessible and secure digital services for citizens' rights in an increasingly connected society. (In Spanish) buff.ly/k22jzgi

#Mali 🇲🇱 The Media Foundation for West Africa(MFWA) calls on the Malian authorities to release journalist, Chahana Takiou, and expresses concern over his continued detention despite his reported health condition. buff.ly/pYlI1CO

#MENA 🌍 New @SMEX.bsky.social report, “Produced, tested, deployed,” maps how militarized tech moves through Sudan, Syria, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Israel & Egypt who produces it, who buys it, and who becomes the testing ground. buff.ly/ySsx40A

🌐 A two-part series published by @eff.org notes that the use of automation and artificial intelligence to moderate content has become the new norm, and highlights the need for transparency and accountability. buff.ly/Se89x9z

This week in #FreeExpression: 🔹 #Uganda: Troops shut down East Africa's largest media house. 🔹 #Nepal: Editors call for ethical AI framework in newsrooms. 🔹 #Global: Authoritarian interests exploit gap left by funding cuts. 🔗 Read #IFEXThisWeek: buff.ly/JYK4dkN

#Turkey 🇹🇷 Groups, including P24, decry the arrest of journalists & NGO leaders ahead of the NATO Summit in Ankara. They said it implies a broader pattern of anti-terror laws & arbitrary police powers to intimidate journalists. @exint24.bsky.social buff.ly/YemTbDx

#Africa 🌍 The Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa calls for more responsive and structured ways of engaging with young Africans on digital platforms so that online discussions are not left to exist in isolation but can influence public decisions. buff.ly/BPObtRC

🌐 @sflcin.bsky.social will join stakeholders in a virtual event on 16 July to explore how age assurance measures across the world are raising significant concerns about privacy, security, freedom of expression as well as children’s rights. Find more details here: buff.ly/9vFC5Mo

#Honduras 🇭🇳 C-Libre condemns tear gas use against protesters opposing municipal tax hikes, warning judicialisation of demonstrators risks criminalising social protest and chilling democratic participation rights. (In Spanish) buff.ly/GLF1kDS

📢We would like to congratulate @polomaldonado.bsky.social on his appointment as Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression. He is currently regional director at IFEX member @article19.bsky.social & IFEX-ALC coordinating committee member.

#Egypt 🇪🇬Marwa Arafa, Egyptian translator and rights defender detained since 2020, has her trial adjourned to Oct 17. Defense wants a forensic report on her deteriorating health included. AFTE reports buff.ly/Hbwcv5j

#Bahrain 🇧🇭 ADHRB reports on handling of Ashura 2026: dozens of arrests and summonses, bans on preachers, and confiscation of religious items belonging to political prisoners, adding restrictions on Shia Muslims’ freedom of religion. buff.ly/fEMkzjk

#Nigeria 🇳🇬 the Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Nigerian authorities to urgently investigate the seizure of journalist Stanley Ugagbe by two armed men in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, and secure his safe return.

#SouthAfrica 🇿🇦 The Committee to Protect Journalists reports on the targeting of more than 15 journalists in the recent anti-migrant movement and xenophobic violence in South Africa.

#Egypt’s 🇪🇬AI strategy is moving fast — are rights safeguards keeping up? A new AFTE paper weighs it against international digital rights standards. 🔗 bit.ly/3SGWwXf

#Pakistan 🇵🇰 Pakistan Press Foundation expressed concern that journalist Taufeeq Butt was summoned by the National Cyber Crime Investigations Agency over a column he wrote. "Journalists must be able to report & comment on matters of public interest." buff.ly/LEdtuLL

This week in #FreeExpression: 🔹 #Ecuador: State pressure forces journalist off corruption probe. 🔹 #Africa: Opaque deals bargain away digital sovereignty. 🔹 #Malaysia: Civil society demands strong right-to-information law. Read #IFEXThisWeek: buff.ly/pCBKrqV

🌏 The Pacific Islands News Association & the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime have signed an initiative aimed at strengthening anti-corruption reporting & promoting transparency & accountability across the Pacific region. buff.ly/832RDok

🌐 @privacyinternational.org said that AI in the military domain requires the recognition of privacy & data protection "not as peripheral technical considerations, but as core human rights obligations integral to any meaningful regulatory framework." buff.ly/hEUoGeE

🌐 @privacyinternational.org listed some examples in 2026 of how governments and corporations use data and technology to exploit individuals and communities. buff.ly/a8lPD8E

#Belarus 🇧🇾 The Belarusian Association of Journalists reported that detained journalist Ales Lubianchuk has been released and is already outside Belarus, but the KGB has added him to the List of Individuals Connected to Terrorist Activities. buff.ly/sWAngIm

#Egypt 🇪🇬Appeals Court will deliver its ruling on July 16 on political activist and poet #AhmedDouma’s appeal against a one-year prison sentence for allegedly spreading false news stemming from an article he wrote about prison conditions AFTE reports bit.ly/4vr0e6m

#Myanmar 🇲🇲 @mizzimadailynews.substack.com cited the report of Athan human rights group which showed that the junta has already suspended the license of 97 media outlets buff.ly/xus9Jcg