Incident
Nicaragua: freelance correspondent detained and deported after online campaign
A coordinated online campaign accused freelance correspondent Carl David Goette-Luciak of being a foreign agent and circulated his home address, after which he was detained and deported from Nicaragua in September 2018.123
What happened
Beginning September 16, 2018, dozens of social media accounts, some appearing automated and posting nearly identical messages within minutes of one another, began sharing photographs and videos of Carl David Goette-Luciak, a United States-Austrian freelance journalist who had reported from Nicaragua on protests against President Daniel Ortega's government for outlets including The Guardian and The Washington Post. The posts accused him of working for the Central Intelligence Agency and of trying to destabilize the country, and some included his home address; other users called for him to be captured and handed to police, or expelled. Some of the accounts sharing the material were linked to government-affiliated organizations. Goette-Luciak was later detained and deported from Nicaragua that September.123
Closed; Goette-Luciak was deported and did not return to report from Nicaragua in the period covered by the sources reviewed.123
What reason was given
Stated justification
What changed for reporting
The campaign and subsequent deportation removed one of the few foreign freelance correspondents then covering Nicaragua's protest movement for major English-language outlets.3
Timeline
2018
Who acted
| Name | Role in this incident | Office at the time |
|---|---|---|
| Daniel Ortega | other | President of Nicaragua |
Outlets and journalists
| Name | Kind | Relation |
|---|---|---|
| Carl David Goette-Luciak | journalist | affected |
Sources
- Online smear campaign targets freelance reporter in Nicaragua
- Journalists struggle to work amid extended internet shutdowns in Myanmar, Ethiopia, Kashmir
- Crackdown in Nicaragua
Claims and evidence
Each numbered claim quotes the source it rests on.
- Description of what the coordinated accounts posted about him.
They had the exact address, including the name of the owner of the house, which I didn't even know.
Online smear campaign targets freelance reporter in Nicaragua, Committee to Protect Journalists, 2018-09-25.Claim 639, checked 2026-09-22. - CPJ's description of the campaign's coordinated character.
Some of the accounts sharing these posts appeared automated, using the same language and images and posting within minutes of each other
Online smear campaign targets freelance reporter in Nicaragua, Committee to Protect Journalists, 2018-09-25.Claim 640, checked 2026-09-22. - The kind of response the campaign encouraged from other users.
called for him to be captured and turned over to police, tortured, or expelled from the country
Online smear campaign targets freelance reporter in Nicaragua, Committee to Protect Journalists, 2018-09-25.Claim 641, checked 2026-09-22.