Israel Censored A News Story Every 4 Hours Last Year
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Israel is censoring a growing number of news stories, and forced editorial changes in one story every four hours last year, according to a freedom of information request filed by +972 Magazine and the Movement for Freedom of Information.
Israel’s Military Censor refused to publish 271 articles in 2017 — more than five a week — and partially or fully redacted a total of 2,358 news items submitted to it for prior review,.
In recent years, the censor has tried to expand its scope, looking to review information from independent blogs and web-based publications as well as traditional print media.
Two years ago, +972 Magazine reported that the censor fully or partially redacted one out of every five articles submitted for review. According to data for 2017, the censor fully or partially redacted 21 percent of the articles submitted to it that year — more than one out of every five articles. Between 2010 and 2017, it banned the publication of 2,298 articles.
Once an article has been censored, the journalist and publication are forbidden from revealing what information was removed or redacted.
Alyssa Fisher is a news writer at the Forward. Email her at fisher@forward.com, or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher
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