Award-winning independent journalist Ahmed Shihab-Eldin has been detained in Kuwait for the past six weeks. The news is shocking and should be deeply troubling for anyone who cares about democracy. Press freedom, and the ability of journalists to report without fear of censure (or worse), is a cornerstone of a society’s capacity to ensure all citizens can thrive independently.
Little is known about the conditions in which Shihab-Eldin is being held, or even the official reasoning for his detention. His recent visit to Kuwait to visit family in early March coincided with an ominous decree from Kuwaiti authorities that filming or publishing videos or information related to the Iran war would be met with potential prosecution. Shihab-Eldin, who is Kuwaiti American, is a prolific user of social media for his reporting. Just before his detention he had apparently commented on a CNN-verified geolocated video showing a U.S. fighter jet crash near a U.S. air base in Kuwait. It is unclear if that is the reason for his detention.
In fact, the charges leveled against him are depressingly and typically vague. Kuwait and other Gulf nations increasingly use euphemisms like “fake news” or “false information” to target members of the media. According to sources I spoke with, no official paperwork has been provided. These sources are working tirelessly to secure Shihab-Eldin’s release, and they say he is expected to face a special tribunal in Kuwait next week.
Unfortunately, Ahmed’s detention is unsurprising, given the escalating crackdown on journalists and press freedom in Kuwait.
I first worked with Ahmed at HuffPost Live, the Huffington Post’s now-shuttered digital video network. It felt like the boom years of online media and startups, when the coffee was usually stale but hot, and Clif Bars were plentiful. Many of us cut our teeth working all hours on putting out stories that didn’t get mainstream play. Ahmed was — and still is — a fearless and thoughtful reporter who has devoted his career to highlighting often-underserved communities and amplifying the stories of those who have been historically overlooked. We both worked to highlight the unjust imprisonment of Iranian American journalist Jason Rezaian; this was when hashtags had just started to become a thing, and #FreeJason was adopted widely to raise awareness of Rezaian’s plight. There’s a cruel irony seeing #FreeAhmed trending in a similar fashion today.
Many of those who worked with Ahmed — who has contributed to The New York Times, PBS and Al Jazeera English — have banded together in recent days to sound the alarm and demand his immediate release. Concerned colleagues at Columbia Journalism School, The Huffington Post and Al Jazeera have all issued urgent statements demanding he be freed. MS NOW’s Jacob Soboroff, another former HuffPost Live colleague, wrote on Instagram: “from the second I met Ahmed when we were getting ready to launch HuffPost Live I loved him. he is a kind, caring and wonderful human being. an extraordinary journalist. this is horrific. free Ahmed.”
Unfortunately, Ahmed’s detention is unsurprising, given the escalating crackdown on journalists and press freedom in Kuwait. The Committee to Protect Journalists in 2025 submitted a joint report to the United Nations Human Rights Council warning of an ever-perilous situation for journalists in the country.
But it isn’t just Kuwait.
According to Reporters Without Borders, 2025 was one of the most deadly years on record for journalists, with reporters being targeted in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan, among others.
Jodie Ginsberg, president of the 45-year-old organization Committee to Protect Journalists, tells me that it is the “most dangerous time, certainly in CPJ history, to be a journalist.”
“They’re smeared. They’re harassed online. They’re assaulted offline. They’re denigrated and demeaned by people in whose interest it is to cast doubt on the truth and the facts. And that makes journalists extremely vulnerable,” Ginsberg says.
But this isn’t a uniquely “foreign” problem. We in the West have been somewhat hoodwinked into thinking that it could never happen here. And yet, the health and vibrancy of the media in the U.S. is increasingly imperiled, as press freedom here hit a historic low in 2025, according to the World Press Freedom Index.
According to Reporters Without Borders, 2025 was one of the most deadly years on record for journalists.
We have seen numerous examples of reporters being arrested and detained simply for doing their jobs. It’s a trend that has alarmed First Amendment proponents like Adam Rose, deputy director of advocacy for Freedom of the Press Foundation, which was co-founded by history-making whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg.
“The United States once aspired to be a beacon of press freedom that the world could follow,” Rose told me. “Unfortunately, the world seems to be following us into an Orwellian dystopia.”
Rose points to the litany of harms that journalists have faced here in the U.S., where the past few months have seen an increase in federal agents violating journalists’ abilities to report freely. The arrests of Don Lemon, Georgia Fort and Junn Bollmann, and a seemingly concerted singling out of immigrant journalists such as Mario Guevara, Richard Parias and Estefany Rodríguez, show a continued attempt to muzzle reporters.
“I’ve sat in court while [government] lawyers tried to argue that recording [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] somehow equates to ‘violence’ against them — chilling doublespeak,” says Rose. “While we can’t claim the mantle of leadership right now, the U.S. can try to reclaim some dignity if the State Department fights for the immediate release of Ahmed Shihab-Eldin from detention in Kuwait.”
The news media is not above criticism — some of the most strident critiques can be earned. But warnings like Ahmed’s arrest and detention should be a wake-up call to finally heed the strong words that the likes of Maria Ressa issued years ago. The Nobel Peace Prize-winning reporter worked tirelessly to keep independent journalism in the Philippines alive despite imprisonment and threats of violence from then-President Rodrigo Duterte. Ressa warned that lack of faith in the information ecosystem and journalists perpetuates a lack of democracy.
Ahmed’s detention is an unfortunate illustration of what Ressa was talking about. Irrespective of political stripes, every American should be worried about the state of play right now for journalists worldwide if democracy matters to them. Ahmed is an American citizen, but importantly, he is a journalist who should not be detained for the act of being a journalist — and that should be true for every reporter, everywhere. #FreeAhmed.
Caroline Modarressy-Tehrani
Caroline Modarressy-Tehrani is a journalist, podcast host and writer. She writes "High Key with CMT" and can be found on Instagram @caro_mt.