Free speech in the media during the 2011 Libyan civil war
Encyclopedia
Free speech in the media during the 2011 Libyan civil war describes the ability of domestic and international media
to report news inside Libya
free from interference and censorship
during the civil war
.
This synopsis from Al Jazeera gives a sense of what the media war was like as of 12 March:
overview of Libyan media , "the state strictly controls the media", "the Libyan Jamahiriya Broadcasting Corporation
is the state broadcaster", and "most Libyan newspapers are either directly or indirectly owned by the government".
The Libyan government authorized non-governmental media in 2007, leading to the launch of newspaper
s and a satellite TV
service by a company affiliated with one of Colonel Gaddafi's sons. But the nationalization of these ventures in 2009 signaled the end to several years of improving conditions for the media. In January 2010 Libya began censoring the Internet. YouTube
was blocked on 24 January following the posting of videos of demonstrations by the families of prisoners in the city of Benghazi
, and of footage of members of Muammar Gaddafi
's family attending parties. Other independent opposition websites were blocked a the same time.
In 2009 Libya had 1.1 million fixed-line and 5.0 million mobile-cellular telephone subscribers for a combined fixed-mobile density approaching 100 telephones per 100 persons. In 2009 a single government-owned service-provider offered Internet access to an estimated 5.5 percent of the population.
Libyan law provided for freedom of speech "within the limits of public interest and principles of the Revolution", but in practice freedom of speech and the press was severely limited, particularly criticism of government officials or policy. Penalties included life prison-sentences for spreading news or information that could “tarnish the country’s reputation or undermine confidence in it abroad” and the death penalty for "whoever spreads within the country, by whatever means, theories or principles aiming to change the basic principles of the Constitution or the fundamental structures of the social system or to overthrow the state's political, social or economic structures or destroy any of the fundamental structures of the social system using violence, terrorism or any other unlawful means". Given the broad nature of these prohibitions and the harsh penalties attached, Libyan journalists practiced a considerable degree of self-censorship
.
s in support of leader Col Muammar Gaddafi
, which the TV said had been held "across Libya". There were about 200 to 300 demonstrators, the vast majority of whom were men, at each protest shown. At one point, a crowd could be heard chanting anti-Al-Jazeera TV slogans. The TV started broadcasting a pro-Gaddafi demonstration live from Sirte
, his home town, at around 1000 GMT. The numbers demonstrating were significantly greater than the previous day, with the crowd chanting: "Oh Jazeera! You despicable one." The TV aired live coverage of a speech by Gaddafi from the evening before, in which he denounced both the United States
and their "Zionist
" allies in front of a cheering crowd.
The signal of the TV satellite operator Nilesat
was jammed starting 23 February. The stations carried by Nilesat included U.S.-based Al-Hurra, Qutar-based Al-Jazeera, and UAE-based Al-Arabiya, which had been providing live coverage of the recent events and interviewing residents by telephone.
Libya Alhurra TV , meaning Free Libya TV, is an Internet television channel founded by Mohamed Nabbous at the start of the Libyan Revolution to provide news and on-ground footage from Benghazi. It was the first private television station in Benghazi, in the east of the country and the only TV broadcast from Benghazi when the internet was shut down as the war began. Alhurra TV was able to bypass government blocks on the Internet in order to broadcast live images from Benghazi across the world. On 19 March, Nabbous was killed by pro-Gaddafi troops during the Second Battle of Benghazi
.
Libya TV, also known as Libya Al-Ahrar TV, is a satellite TV channel broadcast from Doha
, Qatar
. It was created in late March 2011 by the National Transitional Council
, after the NTC media minister, Mahmum Shammam, recruited a small group of volunteers via Facebook
. With headquarters in Doha and studios in Doha, Benghazi
, and London
, Libya TV has correspondents throughout Libya. Libya TV admits to being a propaganda tool in the effort to dislodge the country's long-time leader, but show hosts have welcomed pro-Gaddafi loyalists to call in and air their views. The channel expects to make a decision sometime in October about staying in Doha or moving to Tripoli.
NATO air strikes on the Tripoli headquarters of the state-owned national TV broadcaster Al-Jamahiriya and two of its installations on 30 July killed three of its journalists and wounded 21 others, according to reports by Al-Jamahiriya which could not be immediately verified. NATO said it carried out the air strikes in order to silence the regime’s “terror broadcasts” and put a stop to its “use of satellite television as a means to intimidate the Libyan people and incite acts of violence against them.”
Al Urubah
, a pro-Gaddafi television station, broadcast messages from the deposed leader and his information minister, Moussa Ibrahim
, following the fall of Tripoli in August 2011. Al Urubah, Al-Jamahiriyah, and Al-Shababiyah have been off the air since late August 2011.
. The stations began operating from the cities of Benghazi
, Bayda, and Misrata in February 2011. Other rebel-controlled radio stations are reported to operate in Tobruk
, Nalut
, Jadu
, Derna, and Zliten
. The outlets operate independently and with separate programing, although they share similar aims. They all carry material strongly supportive of the rebels and firmly critical of Gaddafi
. Output is in Arabic, with the Nalut station also said to use Berber (Tamazight)
.
In May 2011, an English-language station, Tribute FM
, began broadcasting from Benghazi. There is no evidence that this station has any connection with the Voice of Free Libya station in the same city.
The former youth station, Al-Shababiyah FM, was re-launched under the new name, Al-Shababiyah 17 February FM, in late August 2011.
. One article reported on the families of "17 February 2006 martyr
s" who met the Libyan leader and condemned the protests. The front page of state-owned Al-Jamahiriya was dedicated to pro-Gaddafi demonstrations and his public appearance at the Ahly football club
in Tripoli
the day before, while state-owned Al-Shams
led exclusively with coverage of this event.
The Libyan revolution has brought forth many new magazines and newspapers, including Al-Jazirah Al-Libiyah, Intifada Al-Ahrar, Al-Kalima, Libya Hurriya (Free Libya), Akhbar Al-Aan and many others. At the end of March there were half a dozen or so new publications. By the beginning of May that had grown to 28, by late May to 65, and in August it was over 120. So far all are weeklies and almost all are in Arabic. The Libya Post is the first all English language publication. Staffs run the gamut from enthusiastic amateur to professional. In spite of the large number of new publications, much of the coverage of the Libyan conflict has been left to international media outlets such as CNN and Al Jazeera, in part due to a lack of experienced professional staff, in part to years of living under a repressive media regime, and in part due to a shortage of financing.
Yosberides
(Arabic: يوسبريدس) is a privately-owned Libyan newspaper published weekly in print and on the internet. Based in Benghazi, the country's second largest city, its original name was Quryna (Arabic: قورينا). It was part of Al-Ghad Media Corporation owned by Colonel Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam until it was nationalized in 2009. Its reporting was sympathetic to Gaddafi until rebel forces took control of Benghazi in early 2011. Since then it has reported more openly and claims to be impartial. On 23 February Reuters
described it as "Libya's most reliable media outlet". However, there have been reports that the paper was seized by protesters and its web site shows the flag of the Libyan Republic, which the rebels use.
After opposition forces went into Tripoli on 21 August, publication of state-owned newspapers, such as Al-Shams
, ceased.
The opposition badly wanted to get its story out to the rest of the world and so, as soon as they acquired a territorial base in Benghazi, foreign reporters were able to join them. These reporters were, to a large extent, free to travel wherever and to talk to whomever they wished within opposition-controlled areas. This proximity and relative freedom of access to the opposition side of events, combined with reporters' natural sympathies for what they see as genuine popular rebellions against despotic regimes, undoubtedly aided the opposition and hurt the Gaddafi-government in getting their respective messages out.
According to Reporters Without Borders
, the Libyan authorities continue to stigmatize the foreign media. On 21 February Muammar Gaddafi referred to foreign TV stations as “stray dogs”, while the Foreign Minister warned that the pro-Gaddafi forces would regard any journalists illegally entering Libya as agents of Al-Qaeda
.
On the morning of 4 March the foreign journalist
s present in Tripoli were barred from leaving their hotels. Security agents blocked all attempts by reporters to leave the Rixos Al Nasr Hotel
in the center of the capital, which housed 130 journalists invited by the government. Threatening to arrest all those who went out without permission, government spokesman
Moussa Ibrahim
said the presence of journalists on the street could provoke violence
.
On 11 March Brazilian reporter Andrei Netto of the O Estado de S. Paulo
newspaper was released by pro-Gaddafi forces after being held for eight days. Netto, who is normally based in Paris, was arrested by pro-Gaddafi forces at the Tunisian-Libyan border as he was trying to resolve problems regarding the way he had entered the country. His newspaper said he was beaten and kept blindfolded during the eight days he was held in Sabratha
, a town 60 km west of Tripoli.
CNN
Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson
and his crew were detained on 11 March in Tajura
, east of Tripoli, by forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. According to Robertson "This was no accidental arrest, no fortunate stumbling across a news team. They [Gaddafi enforcers] had planned this all along." The taxi driver, who was driving the crew and Robertson, was also held. According to Robertson the taxi driver had "done nothing more than give us a ride. He had no idea he might get into trouble." Robertson and his crew were released later the same day.
Unidentified gunmen shot and killed Ali Hassan al-Jaber
, a cameraman working for the Qatar
-based satellite TV station Al-Jazeera, on 12 March in an ambush on the outskirts of the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi. Al-Jazeera said Al Jaber was returning to Benghazi after reporting in a nearby town when the gunmen opened fire on his car, killing him and another passenger. Wadah Khanfar
, the director-general of Al Jazeera, said that the killing came after "an unprecedented campaign" against the network by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
On 7 April, following a series of individual arrests and deportations in previous weeks, the Libyan government decided to deport 26 foreign journalists, who had all been invited to Tripoli by the government, on the grounds that their visas had expired. As of 18 April several journalists being held by the government had been released. While the exact number of journalists still being held remained unknown, at least five foreign journalists were still being detained.
On 18 May Libya released four foreign journalists, one day after a suspended sentence of one year and a $154 fine were imposed for their illegal entry to Libya. The British, Spanish, and two American journalists were captured on 4 April by Muammar al-Gaddafi's military and detained for six weeks. The journalists worked for The New York Times, GlobalPost, the Atlantic, USA Today, and the BBC.
While foreign journalists reported from opposition-controlled areas in relative freedom, there were regular reports of opposition fighters preventing reporters from covering events they considered embarrassing. Such incidents seemed to increase in May and June as the push to overthrow Gaddafi stalled. For example in the rebel enclave of Misrata, 188 kilometres (117 miles) from Tripoli, opposition officials prevented journalists from traveling to the front and required them to use only "approved" translators, a condition not imposed in other areas under opposition control.
On 24 August four Italian journalists were kidnapped by Gaddafi loyalists on the road to Zawiya, about 40 km west of Tripoli and were taken to an apartment in the capital. Their abductors killed their Libyan driver in front of them. The journalists say they were roughed up and their equipment and material confiscated. Their abduction came on the eve of a visit to Italy by Mahmoud Jibril
, the No. 2 in Libya’s National Transitional Council, for a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi
. The four journalists were released by their captors the next day.
Seven foreign journalists were wounded in late August and September. Russian journalist Orkhan Djamal, of the daily Izvestia
, sustained a non-life-threatening leg-injury during fighting in Tripoli on 22 August. Paris Match
photographer Alvaro Canovas was shot in the thigh while covering a rebel assault in Tripoli on 23 August. France 2
cameraman Bruno Girodon was shot near the Bab al-Azizia
complex in Tripoli on 24 August.
Mohamed Ballout, a journalist with dual French and Lebanese nationality working for the BBC, was injured in Bani Walid
on 16 September when a round fired by a pro-Gaddafi sniper killed one man, passed through the body of another man, and hit Mohammed under the arm, in a gap in his bullet-proof vest. Shrapnel from an exploding shell seriously injured the French freelance photographer Olivier Sarbil in the face, arms and legs during fighting between pro- and anti-Gaddafi forces on 17 September in Sirte
.
On 1 February 2011 state security police arrested the writer and political commentator Jamal al-Hajji, who had used the Internet to call for peaceful protests in Libya. At the start of the uprising on 16 February, state security police arrested the director of local news-site Irasa, Taqi Al-Din Al-Chalawi, and its editor, Abdel Fattah Bourwaq. Blogger Mohammed Al-Ashim Masmari was also arrested after he reported on the demonstrations for the BBC and Al-Jazeera.
On 18 February, the day after the first protests that lead to the civil war, Libya withdrew all of its BGP
prefix announcements from the Internet for a short period, cutting Libya off from the rest of the Internet. The prefixes were re-advertised six hours later.
There was no Internet traffic for several hours on 19 February and again the next day. Traffic picked up over the next few days to almost normal levels. On 22 February, XS4ALL, a Netherlands-based ISP, made its modem lines available for free. (While international calls are expensive, they do provide an alternative when regular Internet access is blocked.)
At 6:00 AM on 3 March, Internet traffic effectively ceased, except for a very limited amount of traffic carried on satellite links, when the government severed the underwater backbone fiber-optic cable that runs along the coast and links networks in the east to servers in the west of the country. Engineers believed that the break occurred between the cities of Misrata and Khoms, and could be a physical or electronic rupture.
From 10 July Internet traffic began increasing again and, after a brief shutdown on 15 July, it reached roughly 15% of its previous levels.
On 12 August the Gaddafi regime announced that "any citizen in possession of a Thuraya [satellite telephone] must hold an authorisation to use it in accordance with the laws and regulations" and otherwise would "be punished according to the law that criminalizes communicating with the enemy in time of war, and stipulates penalties up to the death penalty".
After 22 August, the day Tripoli fell to the rebels, Internet traffic began increasing again and by 2 September had reached daily levels in excess of 50% and often as high as 75% of pre-war levels.
Social media networks are used in two distinct ways during conflicts: as organizing tools and as broadcasting platforms. During the civil war in Libya the emphasis was on broadcasting to the rest of the world, because only a relatively few Libyans (5%) had access to the Internet, because the Internet was already being filtered by the government prior to the start of protests in mid-February, and because the Internet in Libya was almost completely shutdown by the government starting in early March.
Citizen journalists provided an alternative to the official media in their portrayal of the protests and the turmoil across the country. While state media showed only pro-Gaddafi protests, pictures and video from mobile phones that made their way from Libya onto Facebook
pages told a different story. When Facebook and Twitter were blocked inside the country, users managed to circumvent restrictions by using satellite connections, proxy servers, and other means. Early in the revolt some activists crossed into Egypt to post online videos and photos taken with mobile phones or tweeted news about events in the country. The hacker group Anonymous
provided Libyans with tools to get round the censorship and some of its members reportedly managed to set up parallel networks. The group also helped people to pass on photos and videos.
NATO used Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and other online media as part of a wide range of sources of information, ranging from unmanned aerial drones to television news, to help determine potential targets for air-strikes in Libya and to assess their success.
News media
The news media are those elements of the mass media that focus on delivering news to the general public or a target public.These include print media , broadcast news , and more recently the Internet .-Etymology:A medium is a carrier of something...
to report news inside Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
free from interference and censorship
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
during the civil war
2011 Libyan civil war
The 2011 Libyan civil war was an armed conflict in the North African state of Libya, fought between forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and those seeking to oust his government. The war was preceded by protests in Benghazi beginning on 15 February 2011, which led to clashes with security...
.
This synopsis from Al Jazeera gives a sense of what the media war was like as of 12 March:
When protests first began in Libya the media presence there was scarce so the story filtered out via social media thanks to courageous citizen journalists. Then, when the fighting intensified, global media numbers increased exponentially. Now there are hoards of international news teams camped out with rebel forces or reporting from the country's capital and Gaddafi stronghold, Tripoli.
There is a cacophony of competing narratives coming out of Libya. From propaganda on the country's state-run broadcaster, to propaganda on rebel-controlled radio, to international reporting with a clear agenda, it is enough to make your head spin.
Media conditions prior to the civil war
According to a BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
overview of Libyan media , "the state strictly controls the media", "the Libyan Jamahiriya Broadcasting Corporation
Libyan Jamahiriya Broadcasting Corporation
Libyan Jamahiriya Broadcasting Corporation was the state-run broadcasting organization in Libya. It distributed news in coordination with the Jamahiriya News Agency in accordance with state laws controlling Libya media....
is the state broadcaster", and "most Libyan newspapers are either directly or indirectly owned by the government".
The Libyan government authorized non-governmental media in 2007, leading to the launch of newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
s and a satellite TV
Satellite television
Satellite television is television programming delivered by the means of communications satellite and received by an outdoor antenna, usually a parabolic mirror generally referred to as a satellite dish, and as far as household usage is concerned, a satellite receiver either in the form of an...
service by a company affiliated with one of Colonel Gaddafi's sons. But the nationalization of these ventures in 2009 signaled the end to several years of improving conditions for the media. In January 2010 Libya began censoring the Internet. YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
was blocked on 24 January following the posting of videos of demonstrations by the families of prisoners in the city of Benghazi
Benghazi
Benghazi is the second largest city in Libya, the main city of the Cyrenaica region , and the former provisional capital of the National Transitional Council. The wider metropolitan area is also a district of Libya...
, and of footage of members of Muammar Gaddafi
Muammar Gaddafi
Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar Gaddafi or "September 1942" 20 October 2011), commonly known as Muammar Gaddafi or Colonel Gaddafi, was the official ruler of the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977 and then the "Brother Leader" of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from 1977 to 2011.He seized power in a...
's family attending parties. Other independent opposition websites were blocked a the same time.
In 2009 Libya had 1.1 million fixed-line and 5.0 million mobile-cellular telephone subscribers for a combined fixed-mobile density approaching 100 telephones per 100 persons. In 2009 a single government-owned service-provider offered Internet access to an estimated 5.5 percent of the population.
Libyan law provided for freedom of speech "within the limits of public interest and principles of the Revolution", but in practice freedom of speech and the press was severely limited, particularly criticism of government officials or policy. Penalties included life prison-sentences for spreading news or information that could “tarnish the country’s reputation or undermine confidence in it abroad” and the death penalty for "whoever spreads within the country, by whatever means, theories or principles aiming to change the basic principles of the Constitution or the fundamental structures of the social system or to overthrow the state's political, social or economic structures or destroy any of the fundamental structures of the social system using violence, terrorism or any other unlawful means". Given the broad nature of these prohibitions and the harsh penalties attached, Libyan journalists practiced a considerable degree of self-censorship
Self-censorship
Self-censorship is the act of censoring or classifying one's own work , out of fear of, or deference to, the sensibilities of others, without overt pressure from any specific party or institution of authority...
.
Television
Libya's state-owned TV made no mention of the anti-government protests in the east of the country on 16 February and continued with its usual programming on 17 February. During its morning bulletin, Libyan TV continuously showed demonstrationDemonstration
Demonstration may refer to:* Demonstration , a political rally or protest* Demonstration , a conclusive mathematical proof* Demonstration , a method of teaching by example rather than simple explanation...
s in support of leader Col Muammar Gaddafi
Muammar Gaddafi
Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar Gaddafi or "September 1942" 20 October 2011), commonly known as Muammar Gaddafi or Colonel Gaddafi, was the official ruler of the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977 and then the "Brother Leader" of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from 1977 to 2011.He seized power in a...
, which the TV said had been held "across Libya". There were about 200 to 300 demonstrators, the vast majority of whom were men, at each protest shown. At one point, a crowd could be heard chanting anti-Al-Jazeera TV slogans. The TV started broadcasting a pro-Gaddafi demonstration live from Sirte
Sirte
Sirte is a city in LibyaSirte may also refer to:* Sirte Declaration, a 1999 resolution to create the African Union* Sirte Oil Company, a Libyan oil companyIn geography:* Gulf of Sirte, alias for Gulf of Sidra on Libya's coast...
, his home town, at around 1000 GMT. The numbers demonstrating were significantly greater than the previous day, with the crowd chanting: "Oh Jazeera! You despicable one." The TV aired live coverage of a speech by Gaddafi from the evening before, in which he denounced both the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and their "Zionist
Zionism
Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...
" allies in front of a cheering crowd.
The signal of the TV satellite operator Nilesat
Nilesat
Nilesat is an Egyptian company, and the name of a series of Egyptian communications satellites. It was established in 1996 with the purpose of operating Egyptian satellites and their associated ground control station and uplinking facilities...
was jammed starting 23 February. The stations carried by Nilesat included U.S.-based Al-Hurra, Qutar-based Al-Jazeera, and UAE-based Al-Arabiya, which had been providing live coverage of the recent events and interviewing residents by telephone.
Libya Alhurra TV , meaning Free Libya TV, is an Internet television channel founded by Mohamed Nabbous at the start of the Libyan Revolution to provide news and on-ground footage from Benghazi. It was the first private television station in Benghazi, in the east of the country and the only TV broadcast from Benghazi when the internet was shut down as the war began. Alhurra TV was able to bypass government blocks on the Internet in order to broadcast live images from Benghazi across the world. On 19 March, Nabbous was killed by pro-Gaddafi troops during the Second Battle of Benghazi
Second Battle of Benghazi
The Second Battle of Benghazi was a battle in the 2011 Libyan civil war between army units and militiamen loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and anti-Gaddafi forces...
.
Libya TV, also known as Libya Al-Ahrar TV, is a satellite TV channel broadcast from Doha
Doha
Doha is the capital city of the state of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf, it had a population of 998,651 in 2008, and is also one of the municipalities of Qatar...
, Qatar
Qatar
Qatar , also known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qaṭar, is a sovereign Arab state, located in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its...
. It was created in late March 2011 by the National Transitional Council
National Transitional Council
The National Transitional Council of Libya , sometimes known as the Transitional National Council, the Interim National Council, or the Libyan National Council,...
, after the NTC media minister, Mahmum Shammam, recruited a small group of volunteers via Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
. With headquarters in Doha and studios in Doha, Benghazi
Benghazi
Benghazi is the second largest city in Libya, the main city of the Cyrenaica region , and the former provisional capital of the National Transitional Council. The wider metropolitan area is also a district of Libya...
, and London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Libya TV has correspondents throughout Libya. Libya TV admits to being a propaganda tool in the effort to dislodge the country's long-time leader, but show hosts have welcomed pro-Gaddafi loyalists to call in and air their views. The channel expects to make a decision sometime in October about staying in Doha or moving to Tripoli.
NATO air strikes on the Tripoli headquarters of the state-owned national TV broadcaster Al-Jamahiriya and two of its installations on 30 July killed three of its journalists and wounded 21 others, according to reports by Al-Jamahiriya which could not be immediately verified. NATO said it carried out the air strikes in order to silence the regime’s “terror broadcasts” and put a stop to its “use of satellite television as a means to intimidate the Libyan people and incite acts of violence against them.”
Al Urubah
Al Urubah (television channel)
Al Urubah was a pro-Muammar Gaddafi Libyan television station. Following the fall of Tripoli in August, 2011, it broadcast messages from the deposed leader and his information minister, Moussa Ibrahim. The station's logo also temporarily appeared on Syria's Al Ra'y Television's transmissions...
, a pro-Gaddafi television station, broadcast messages from the deposed leader and his information minister, Moussa Ibrahim
Moussa Ibrahim
Moussa Ibrahim is a Libyan political figure, serving as Libyan Minister of Information and the official spokesman for Muammar Gaddafi as of March 2011. He came to general international attention during the 2011 Libyan civil war.-Biography:...
, following the fall of Tripoli in August 2011. Al Urubah, Al-Jamahiriyah, and Al-Shababiyah have been off the air since late August 2011.
Radio
The Voice of Free Libya (Arabic: Sawt Libya al-Hurra) or sometimes Radio Free Libya (Arabic: Idha'at Libya al-Hurra) are the names used by several radio stations aligned with the Libyan rebelsAnti-Gaddafi forces
The anti-Gaddafi forces were Libyan groups that opposed and militarily defeated the government of Muammar Gaddafi, killing him in the process. These opposition forces included organised and armed militia groups, participants in the 2011 Libyan civil war, Libyan diplomats who switched their...
. The stations began operating from the cities of Benghazi
Benghazi
Benghazi is the second largest city in Libya, the main city of the Cyrenaica region , and the former provisional capital of the National Transitional Council. The wider metropolitan area is also a district of Libya...
, Bayda, and Misrata in February 2011. Other rebel-controlled radio stations are reported to operate in Tobruk
Tobruk
Tobruk or Tubruq is a city, seaport, and peninsula on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near the border with Egypt. It is the capital of the Butnan District and has a population of 120,000 ....
, Nalut
Nalut
Nalut is the capital of the Nalut District in Libya and is home to a Berber granary and community.Nalut lies approximately half way between Tripoli and Ghadames, at the western end of the Nafusa Mountains coastal range, in the Tripolitania region.-Architecture:Nalut is home to the Ksar Nalut,...
, Jadu
Jadu, Libya
Jadu [p] , in other languages also: Giado and Gado, is a mountain town in western Libya, in the Jabal al Gharbi District and the Nafusa Mountains. Jadu was the site of an Italian concentration camp during the Second World War...
, Derna, and Zliten
Zliten
Zliten is a town in the Misrata District of Libya. It is located on the southern coast of the Mediterranean Sea west of the Gulf of Sidra. It was the capital of the former Zlitan District.-Location:...
. The outlets operate independently and with separate programing, although they share similar aims. They all carry material strongly supportive of the rebels and firmly critical of Gaddafi
Muammar Gaddafi
Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar Gaddafi or "September 1942" 20 October 2011), commonly known as Muammar Gaddafi or Colonel Gaddafi, was the official ruler of the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977 and then the "Brother Leader" of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from 1977 to 2011.He seized power in a...
. Output is in Arabic, with the Nalut station also said to use Berber (Tamazight)
Berber languages
The Berber languages are a family of languages indigenous to North Africa, spoken from Siwa Oasis in Egypt to Morocco , and south to the countries of the Sahara Desert...
.
In May 2011, an English-language station, Tribute FM
Tribute FM
Tribute FM is an English-language radio station targeting a Libyan audience both inside and outside the country. It was launched in May 2011 during the country's civil war. It is opposed to the government of Muammar al-Gaddafi....
, began broadcasting from Benghazi. There is no evidence that this station has any connection with the Voice of Free Libya station in the same city.
The former youth station, Al-Shababiyah FM, was re-launched under the new name, Al-Shababiyah 17 February FM, in late August 2011.
Newspapers
Headlines on 17 February in state-owned Libyan papers continued to highlight pro-Gaddafi demonstrations or his public engagements. Quryna, which was previously part of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi's Al-Ghad Media Corporation but is now state-owned, carried an upbeat report about order being restored in BenghaziBenghazi
Benghazi is the second largest city in Libya, the main city of the Cyrenaica region , and the former provisional capital of the National Transitional Council. The wider metropolitan area is also a district of Libya...
. One article reported on the families of "17 February 2006 martyr
Martyr
A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...
s" who met the Libyan leader and condemned the protests. The front page of state-owned Al-Jamahiriya was dedicated to pro-Gaddafi demonstrations and his public appearance at the Ahly football club
Alahly Tripoli S.C.
Al-Ahly Tripoli is a Libyan football club based in Tripoli, Libya. The club is the second most successful Libyan club in history, having won 10 Libyan Premier League titles, five Libyan Football Cups and a Libyan SuperCup. Al-Ahly is known as the leader of Libyan Football clubs and has the...
in Tripoli
Tripoli
Tripoli is the capital and largest city in Libya. It is also known as Western Tripoli , to distinguish it from Tripoli, Lebanon. It is affectionately called The Mermaid of the Mediterranean , describing its turquoise waters and its whitewashed buildings. Tripoli is a Greek name that means "Three...
the day before, while state-owned Al-Shams
Al-Shams (newspaper)
Al-Shams was a Libyan, Arabic language daily newspaper. It was run by the Libyan government.As of September 2011, it is reported as having ceased publication following the 2011 Libyan civil war.-External links:*http://www.alshames.com - Official website*...
led exclusively with coverage of this event.
The Libyan revolution has brought forth many new magazines and newspapers, including Al-Jazirah Al-Libiyah, Intifada Al-Ahrar, Al-Kalima, Libya Hurriya (Free Libya), Akhbar Al-Aan and many others. At the end of March there were half a dozen or so new publications. By the beginning of May that had grown to 28, by late May to 65, and in August it was over 120. So far all are weeklies and almost all are in Arabic. The Libya Post is the first all English language publication. Staffs run the gamut from enthusiastic amateur to professional. In spite of the large number of new publications, much of the coverage of the Libyan conflict has been left to international media outlets such as CNN and Al Jazeera, in part due to a lack of experienced professional staff, in part to years of living under a repressive media regime, and in part due to a shortage of financing.
Yosberides
Yosberides
Yosberides , formerly known as Quryna , is a privately-owned Libyan newspaper published in print and on the internet. It is based in Benghazi, the country's second largest city...
(Arabic: يوسبريدس) is a privately-owned Libyan newspaper published weekly in print and on the internet. Based in Benghazi, the country's second largest city, its original name was Quryna (Arabic: قورينا). It was part of Al-Ghad Media Corporation owned by Colonel Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam until it was nationalized in 2009. Its reporting was sympathetic to Gaddafi until rebel forces took control of Benghazi in early 2011. Since then it has reported more openly and claims to be impartial. On 23 February Reuters
Reuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
described it as "Libya's most reliable media outlet". However, there have been reports that the paper was seized by protesters and its web site shows the flag of the Libyan Republic, which the rebels use.
After opposition forces went into Tripoli on 21 August, publication of state-owned newspapers, such as Al-Shams
Al-Shams (newspaper)
Al-Shams was a Libyan, Arabic language daily newspaper. It was run by the Libyan government.As of September 2011, it is reported as having ceased publication following the 2011 Libyan civil war.-External links:*http://www.alshames.com - Official website*...
, ceased.
International media
At the start of the conflict in late February and early March of 2011, few international journalists operated in Libya. They worked under the close supervision of government minders and could not travel freely. As a result, international news organizations frequently relied on phone reports from people actually on the ground. This in turn meant that the media could not independently verify accounts and so reported them as "claims" or "allegations" rather than as "facts". The restrictions on and the attempts to control the media by the Gaddafi-regime continued until the government fled from Tripoli.The opposition badly wanted to get its story out to the rest of the world and so, as soon as they acquired a territorial base in Benghazi, foreign reporters were able to join them. These reporters were, to a large extent, free to travel wherever and to talk to whomever they wished within opposition-controlled areas. This proximity and relative freedom of access to the opposition side of events, combined with reporters' natural sympathies for what they see as genuine popular rebellions against despotic regimes, undoubtedly aided the opposition and hurt the Gaddafi-government in getting their respective messages out.
According to Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders is a France-based international non-governmental organization that advocates freedom of the press. It was founded in 1985, by Robert Ménard, Rony Brauman and the journalist Jean-Claude Guillebaud. Jean-François Julliard has served as Secretary General since 2008...
, the Libyan authorities continue to stigmatize the foreign media. On 21 February Muammar Gaddafi referred to foreign TV stations as “stray dogs”, while the Foreign Minister warned that the pro-Gaddafi forces would regard any journalists illegally entering Libya as agents of Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
.
On the morning of 4 March the foreign journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
s present in Tripoli were barred from leaving their hotels. Security agents blocked all attempts by reporters to leave the Rixos Al Nasr Hotel
Rixos Al Nasr
The Rixos Al Nasr is a five star hotel in Tripoli, Libya. Owned by the Turkish-based Rixos Hotels group, it is located in the center of Tripoli, at one corner of Tarabulus Zoo Park. Opened on the 12 March 2010, amongst its first guests was the President of Eritrea, Isaias Afewerki...
in the center of the capital, which housed 130 journalists invited by the government. Threatening to arrest all those who went out without permission, government spokesman
Spokesman
A spokesperson or spokesman or spokeswoman is someone engaged or elected to speak on behalf of others.In the present media-sensitive world, many organizations are increasingly likely to employ professionals who have received formal training in journalism, communications, public relations and...
Moussa Ibrahim
Moussa Ibrahim
Moussa Ibrahim is a Libyan political figure, serving as Libyan Minister of Information and the official spokesman for Muammar Gaddafi as of March 2011. He came to general international attention during the 2011 Libyan civil war.-Biography:...
said the presence of journalists on the street could provoke violence
Violence
Violence is the use of physical force to apply a state to others contrary to their wishes. violence, while often a stand-alone issue, is often the culmination of other kinds of conflict, e.g...
.
On 11 March Brazilian reporter Andrei Netto of the O Estado de S. Paulo
O Estado de S. Paulo
O Estado de S. Paulo is a daily newspaper published in the Metropolitan region of São Paulo, Brazil, and distributed mainly nationally. It is owned by Grupo Estado, a holding company which publishes the Jornal da Tarde and owns the radios Rádio Eldorado AM and FM and the Agência Estado, largest...
newspaper was released by pro-Gaddafi forces after being held for eight days. Netto, who is normally based in Paris, was arrested by pro-Gaddafi forces at the Tunisian-Libyan border as he was trying to resolve problems regarding the way he had entered the country. His newspaper said he was beaten and kept blindfolded during the eight days he was held in Sabratha
Sabratha
Sabratha, Sabratah or Siburata , in the Zawiya District in the northwestern corner of modern Libya, was the westernmost of the "three cities" of Tripolis. From 2001 to 2007 it was the capital of the former Sabratha wa Sorman District. It lies on the Mediterranean coast about west of Tripoli...
, a town 60 km west of Tripoli.
CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson
Nic Robertson
Nic Robertson is a Senior International Correspondent at CNN.Nic started his career in broadcasting in 1984 within the engineering arm of the UK's Independent Broadcasting Authority He then worked as an engineer with TV-AM until 1989.Nic began his career at CNN in 1989, starting as a satellite...
and his crew were detained on 11 March in Tajura
Tajura
Tajura , also spelt Tajoura, is a city in Libya, in the Tripoli District , on the Mediterranean coast east of Tripoli in the Tripolitania region....
, east of Tripoli, by forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. According to Robertson "This was no accidental arrest, no fortunate stumbling across a news team. They [Gaddafi enforcers] had planned this all along." The taxi driver, who was driving the crew and Robertson, was also held. According to Robertson the taxi driver had "done nothing more than give us a ride. He had no idea he might get into trouble." Robertson and his crew were released later the same day.
Unidentified gunmen shot and killed Ali Hassan al-Jaber
Ali Hassan al-Jaber
Ali Hassan al-Jaber was a Qatari national working as a camera operator for the TV channel Al Jazeera. He was the first foreign journalist killed during the 2011 Libyan civil war.Three other foreign photojournalists were killed in Libya while covering the war...
, a cameraman working for the Qatar
Qatar
Qatar , also known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qaṭar, is a sovereign Arab state, located in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its...
-based satellite TV station Al-Jazeera, on 12 March in an ambush on the outskirts of the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi. Al-Jazeera said Al Jaber was returning to Benghazi after reporting in a nearby town when the gunmen opened fire on his car, killing him and another passenger. Wadah Khanfar
Wadah Khanfar
Wadah Khanfar was the Director General of the Al Jazeera Network. He has been ranked by Fast Company as the first in the 100 Most Creative People in Business and as one of the most ‘Powerful People in the World’ by Forbes Magazine...
, the director-general of Al Jazeera, said that the killing came after "an unprecedented campaign" against the network by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
On 7 April, following a series of individual arrests and deportations in previous weeks, the Libyan government decided to deport 26 foreign journalists, who had all been invited to Tripoli by the government, on the grounds that their visas had expired. As of 18 April several journalists being held by the government had been released. While the exact number of journalists still being held remained unknown, at least five foreign journalists were still being detained.
On 18 May Libya released four foreign journalists, one day after a suspended sentence of one year and a $154 fine were imposed for their illegal entry to Libya. The British, Spanish, and two American journalists were captured on 4 April by Muammar al-Gaddafi's military and detained for six weeks. The journalists worked for The New York Times, GlobalPost, the Atlantic, USA Today, and the BBC.
While foreign journalists reported from opposition-controlled areas in relative freedom, there were regular reports of opposition fighters preventing reporters from covering events they considered embarrassing. Such incidents seemed to increase in May and June as the push to overthrow Gaddafi stalled. For example in the rebel enclave of Misrata, 188 kilometres (117 miles) from Tripoli, opposition officials prevented journalists from traveling to the front and required them to use only "approved" translators, a condition not imposed in other areas under opposition control.
On 24 August four Italian journalists were kidnapped by Gaddafi loyalists on the road to Zawiya, about 40 km west of Tripoli and were taken to an apartment in the capital. Their abductors killed their Libyan driver in front of them. The journalists say they were roughed up and their equipment and material confiscated. Their abduction came on the eve of a visit to Italy by Mahmoud Jibril
Mahmoud Jibril
Mahmoud Jibril el-Warfally , also transcribed Jabril or Jebril or Gebril, is a Libyan politician who served as the interim Prime Minister of Libya for seven and a half months during the 2011 Libyan civil war, chairing the executive board of the National Transitional Council from 5 March 2011 to 23...
, the No. 2 in Libya’s National Transitional Council, for a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi , also known as Il Cavaliere – from knighthood to the Order of Merit for Labour which he received in 1977 – is an Italian politician and businessman who served three terms as Prime Minister of Italy, from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006, and 2008 to 2011. Berlusconi is also the...
. The four journalists were released by their captors the next day.
Seven foreign journalists were wounded in late August and September. Russian journalist Orkhan Djamal, of the daily Izvestia
Izvestia
Izvestia is a long-running high-circulation daily newspaper in Russia. The word "izvestiya" in Russian means "delivered messages", derived from the verb izveshchat . In the context of newspapers it is usually translated as "news" or "reports".-Origin:The newspaper began as the News of the...
, sustained a non-life-threatening leg-injury during fighting in Tripoli on 22 August. Paris Match
Paris Match
Paris Match is a French weekly magazine. It covers major national and international news along with celebrity lifestyle features. It was founded in 1949 by the industrialist Jean Prouvost....
photographer Alvaro Canovas was shot in the thigh while covering a rebel assault in Tripoli on 23 August. France 2
France 2
France 2 is a French public national television channel. It is part of the state-owned France Télévisions group, along with France 3, France 4, France 5 and France Ô...
cameraman Bruno Girodon was shot near the Bab al-Azizia
Bab al-Azizia
Bab al-Azizia was a military barracks and compound, situated in the southern suburbs of Tripoli, the capital of Libya. It served as the main base for the Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi until its capture by anti-Gaddafi rebels on 23 August 2011, during the Battle of Tripoli in the Libyan...
complex in Tripoli on 24 August.
Mohamed Ballout, a journalist with dual French and Lebanese nationality working for the BBC, was injured in Bani Walid
Bani Walid
Bani Walid or Ben Walid, prior to 2007, was one of the districts of Libya. In the 2007 administrative reorganization the territory formerly in Bani Walid District was transferred to Misrata District.Bani Walid bordered the following districts:...
on 16 September when a round fired by a pro-Gaddafi sniper killed one man, passed through the body of another man, and hit Mohammed under the arm, in a gap in his bullet-proof vest. Shrapnel from an exploding shell seriously injured the French freelance photographer Olivier Sarbil in the face, arms and legs during fighting between pro- and anti-Gaddafi forces on 17 September in Sirte
Sirte
Sirte is a city in LibyaSirte may also refer to:* Sirte Declaration, a 1999 resolution to create the African Union* Sirte Oil Company, a Libyan oil companyIn geography:* Gulf of Sirte, alias for Gulf of Sidra on Libya's coast...
.
Internet
- Further information: Internet censorship in Libya
On 1 February 2011 state security police arrested the writer and political commentator Jamal al-Hajji, who had used the Internet to call for peaceful protests in Libya. At the start of the uprising on 16 February, state security police arrested the director of local news-site Irasa, Taqi Al-Din Al-Chalawi, and its editor, Abdel Fattah Bourwaq. Blogger Mohammed Al-Ashim Masmari was also arrested after he reported on the demonstrations for the BBC and Al-Jazeera.
On 18 February, the day after the first protests that lead to the civil war, Libya withdrew all of its BGP
Border Gateway Protocol
The Border Gateway Protocol is the protocol backing the core routing decisions on the Internet. It maintains a table of IP networks or 'prefixes' which designate network reachability among autonomous systems . It is described as a path vector protocol...
prefix announcements from the Internet for a short period, cutting Libya off from the rest of the Internet. The prefixes were re-advertised six hours later.
There was no Internet traffic for several hours on 19 February and again the next day. Traffic picked up over the next few days to almost normal levels. On 22 February, XS4ALL, a Netherlands-based ISP, made its modem lines available for free. (While international calls are expensive, they do provide an alternative when regular Internet access is blocked.)
At 6:00 AM on 3 March, Internet traffic effectively ceased, except for a very limited amount of traffic carried on satellite links, when the government severed the underwater backbone fiber-optic cable that runs along the coast and links networks in the east to servers in the west of the country. Engineers believed that the break occurred between the cities of Misrata and Khoms, and could be a physical or electronic rupture.
From 10 July Internet traffic began increasing again and, after a brief shutdown on 15 July, it reached roughly 15% of its previous levels.
On 12 August the Gaddafi regime announced that "any citizen in possession of a Thuraya [satellite telephone] must hold an authorisation to use it in accordance with the laws and regulations" and otherwise would "be punished according to the law that criminalizes communicating with the enemy in time of war, and stipulates penalties up to the death penalty".
After 22 August, the day Tripoli fell to the rebels, Internet traffic began increasing again and by 2 September had reached daily levels in excess of 50% and often as high as 75% of pre-war levels.
Social media networks are used in two distinct ways during conflicts: as organizing tools and as broadcasting platforms. During the civil war in Libya the emphasis was on broadcasting to the rest of the world, because only a relatively few Libyans (5%) had access to the Internet, because the Internet was already being filtered by the government prior to the start of protests in mid-February, and because the Internet in Libya was almost completely shutdown by the government starting in early March.
Citizen journalists provided an alternative to the official media in their portrayal of the protests and the turmoil across the country. While state media showed only pro-Gaddafi protests, pictures and video from mobile phones that made their way from Libya onto Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
pages told a different story. When Facebook and Twitter were blocked inside the country, users managed to circumvent restrictions by using satellite connections, proxy servers, and other means. Early in the revolt some activists crossed into Egypt to post online videos and photos taken with mobile phones or tweeted news about events in the country. The hacker group Anonymous
Anonymous (group)
Anonymous is an international hacking group, spread through the Internet, initiating active civil disobedience, while attempting to maintain anonymity. Originating in 2003 on the imageboard 4chan, the term refers to the concept of many online community users simultaneously existing as an anarchic,...
provided Libyans with tools to get round the censorship and some of its members reportedly managed to set up parallel networks. The group also helped people to pass on photos and videos.
NATO used Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and other online media as part of a wide range of sources of information, ranging from unmanned aerial drones to television news, to help determine potential targets for air-strikes in Libya and to assess their success.