RSF INVESTIGATION

In March 2025, a wave of online harassment and threats barraged the authors of a book on the fatal stabbing of a French teenager in 2023. The French television channel CNews spent more than a week denigrating the report and those who wrote it, triggering a surge of online hatred. RSF investigated this smear campaign and has filed a complaint with France’s broadcast regulator, Arcom, requesting that CNews be sanctioned for breaching its legal obligations.

NEWS BRIEFS

Moldova’s elections targeted by the Kremlin

The recent parliamentary elections, which brought the pro-European PAS party to power, were held in a news climate saturated with pro-Kremlin propaganda and disinformation, from fake polls to coordinated campaigns that spread manipulated videos on TikTok. Moldova is looking to join the EU and the European information space must be guarded against these classic tactics of Russian interference — so RSF issued 12 policy recommendations to the new government.

El Salvador’s press forced into exile

In just four months, over 50 Salvadorian media professionals have been driven into exile due to relentless legal persecution and the repressive laws of President Nayib Bukele’s government. Stifled by harassment and the threat of imprisonment, journalists are also suffocating financially. RSF has provided aid to 12 of these journalists and urged the president to guarantee the press is protected.

In India, censorship power granted to a private company

A New Delhi court has ordered the removal of content deemed defamatory towards Adani Enterprises, targeting five journalists and several outlets. The decision was based solely on the company’s lack of past convictions and extends to future content, effectively granting the company power to censor reports on its activity. RSF condemns this dangerous precedent and demands that defamation cases be judged on their merits.

RSF Investigation: the censorship built into Chinese bots

RSF tested three major Chinese chatbots (DeepSeek, Ernie and Qwen) that rival ChatGPT and exposed the extent to which they adhere to the propaganda and censorship imposed by the Chinese regime. As soon as sensitive topics are raised, the bots’ answers vanish or deliberately avoid the subject…

Who are the 26 Ukrainian journalists detained by the Kremlin?

Secret detentions, torture, forced labour — the Kremlin’s repressive machine continues to silence independent Ukrainian voices reporting from occupied territories. Twenty-six of these reporters are still behind Russian bars for documenting the consequences of Russia’s invasions since 2014, especially the full-scale offensive launched in February 2022. RSF has highlighted the plight of these journalists, detained for refusing to submit to the Kremlin’s propaganda.

GOOD NEWS

Egyptian journalist Alaa Abdel Fattah is finally free!

Arbitrarily convicted of “spreading false information,” the journalist had spent over a decade behind bars. Released after a presidential pardon, he has finally been reunited with his loved ones, including his mother, Laila Soueif, who campaigned tirelessly for his release for years.

HIGHLIGHT

The newest RSF report is out!

It unpacks the inner workings of Kremlin propaganda in Russia and abroad through investigations and exclusive interviews with experts from around the world.

The report is illustrated by political cartoonists from the Cartooning for Peace network.

Regis Genté, who spent nearly 20 years as Georgia correspondent for the French international broadcaster Radio France Internationale (RFI), shared with RSF his analysis of the converging narratives of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin — and their consequences on the right to information.