By Jenny Beaumont

In every country the press has different laws of what can be said/done. The UK has freedom of expression meaning people have the right to talk about their own opinion if it prevents disorder and crimes and protects health or morals. But some countries aren’t as lucky and can’t express their own opinions.

In North Korea radio and TV receivers get forced to listen to propaganda about Kim Jong Un. Press and broadcasters are under state control carrying out reports about their leader. If people are found trying to access foreign broadcasting stations, they are met with great punishments like forced labour.

North Korea doesn’t have much internet access, news agency KCNA and the party newspaper Rodong Sinmun are among the very few official sites that people are allowed. Their outputs are aimed largely at audiences outside of North Korea to make people think North Korea is the perfect country.

In China, if an independent journalist/blogger tries to report “sensitive” information they will often be put under surveillance, harassed, detained and in some cases tortured. To receive and renew press cards in China journalists must download ‘study xi, strengthen the country’, an application that can collect their personal data.

China is the world’s largest jailer of journalists, with more than 100 currently detained. Certain websites that the government deems as dangerous such as Wikipedia, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube and some google services are fully blocked or temporarily “blacked out”. Specific material considered a threat to political stability is also banned including controversial photos and video.

Iraq has one of the most restricted medias. The press is not free, Uday Hussein controls about a dozen newspapers in the country as well as Iraq’s most influential television and radio stations. the Iraqi Ministry of Information appoints all the country's journalists, who must be members of the ruling Ba'ath Party and of the Journalists' Union, which is chaired by Uday. Foreign journalists who cover Iraq are faced with a variety of obstacles; from government censorship to limits on Visa stays. There have been widespread reports of journalists being attacked, kidnapped, tear gassed, threatened and obstructed from carrying out their work, while media outlets have been raided and forced off air by government and unidentified militia groups, leading to what local press freedom groups have called the worst climate for media since the Iraq war in 2003.

“In Vietnam regressive laws constrain journalists and bloggers”, says freedom house.

“Those who report or comment on controversial issues risk intimidation and physical attack. Bloggers and citizen journalists are the only independent news source, but they face harsher punishment.

“TV is the main network that only runs national TV, Vietnam television (VTV) owned satellite and cable play TV platforms carry few foreign networks.

“Material deemed to threaten Communist rule, including political dissent, is blocked. Censorship by means of content removal has become systematic,” Freedom House said in 2018.

How freedom of speech differs for journalists across the globe