News

Serbia: Wave of lawsuits against investigative portal KRIK chills media freedom

21/12/2021

In recent months, KRIK’s newsroom has been targeted by ten different procedures requesting a total of 90 million dinars in damages. MFRR partners believe that these cases are a form of SLAPPs and demand urgent actions to address the growing phenomenon in the country

Germany: MFRR expresses concern over rising attacks against journalists covering protests

20/12/2021

The undersigned partners of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) today express their concern about the increasing number of attacks against journalists across Germany, particularly in the context of anti-vaccine demonstrations. We call for better safety measures and protection as well as thorough investigations of attacks against journalists covering such demonstrations. Moreover, preventative measures are needed to stop such attacks from happening. Finally, we encourage media workers to report press and media freedom violations

EFJ statement on Italian journalists locked up by Romanian anti-vax senator

16/12/2021

EFJ statement as part of MFRR on the attack on the RAI crew and the unjustified arrest of the journalists by the Romanian police

Malta: need to amend a legal notice about privacy

07/12/2021

We co-signed a letter to Malta authorities concerning the possibility to erase personal data from court decisions: the principle of publicity of court proceedings, including the verdict, as protected under European human rights law and extensively developed in the European Court of Human Rights’ jurisprudence, is an essential means for realising the right to a fair trial and maintaining public confidence in the judiciary

Shape the DSA so it can empower all users to act against wrongful platform decisions

04/12/2021

We co-signed an open letter to Members of the European Parliament promoted by EU DisinfoLab and HateAid concerning the need to fix asymmetries between users and platforms

Serbia: MFRR welcomes renewed convictions for murder of Slavko Ćuruvija

03/12/2021

We joined our MFRR partners in welcoming the confirmed guilty verdicts for the murder in 1999 of journalist and editor-in-chied Slavko Ćuruvija. The decision represents an important step in the long fight against impunity for the killing of journalists in Serbia

Serbia: Penal Code amendments require open and comprehensive debate

02/12/2021

We co-signed a statement calling for a broader and open consultation on the amendments of the Penal Code proposed by the Ministry of Justice

Poland: journalist’s criminal defamation conviction may further impair freedom of expression

01/12/2021

MFRR partners stand in solidarity with Polityka journalist Ewa Siedlecka, who has been convicted of criminal defamation. Amid the ongoing erosion of media freedom in Poland, there is a justified fear that this verdict might pave the way for a wider criminalisation of expressing an opinion based on information present in the public space

Needs and Gaps Brief No. 1: Italy

30/11/2021

The first of a series of briefs presenting the results of the forthcoming Needs and Gaps analysis

Curated by Maria Francesca Rita

MFRR to hold press freedom mission to Greece

29/11/2021

The Media Freedom Rapid Response will hold an online fact-finding mission to Greece in the first half of December to assess increasing concerns about media freedom and the safety of journalists in the country