News

Greece: a call for transparency and objectivity

15/07/2020

Several critical media outlets have been excluded from the governmental financial support provided through a €20 million public health advertising campaign during the COVID-19 crisis. The Media Freedom Rapid Response calls for transparency and objectivity in the distribution of public advertisement funds to media

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Slovenia: serious concerns over proposed changes to public service media

15/07/2020

A letter to the Prime Minister, to the Minister of Culture, to the President of the Republic and to the Speaker of the National Assembly urges Slovenian authorities to ensure that all voices and viewpoints are carefully considered during the consultation process of the proposed changes to the funding of public service media, a package of amendments to three media laws that has the potential to weaken the public broadcaster

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Serbia: no more attacks and threats to journalists covering protests

14/07/2020

Alarmed by the increasing violence that police uses against reporters and media workers, the partners of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) ask Nebojša Stefanović, Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Serbia, to ensure all police officers and ministry personnel do not attack journalists, but protect them from other threats

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Statement in support of the mandate of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media

13/07/2020

Twenty-nine organisations signed a statement in support of media freedom, after the decision of the Governments of Azerbaijan and Tajikistan to block the renewal of the mandate of Harlem Désir, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media.

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Women harassment on social media: new tools to identify abuse

13/07/2020

A team of Columbia researchers is developing new computational tools designed to automatically identify abusive, offensive and harassing speech on social media platforms. Women journalists are asked to contribute to the research

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The key pillars to fight disinformation. A speech by Vera Jourová

11/07/2020

On July 7 the Vice-President of the European Commission held a speech at the European Media Conference "Diversity and Responsibility: Media in a Digital Society" organized by the German Federal Government to encourage debate on the issue of safeguarding media pluralism in Europe

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Malta: Renewed call for justice 1,000 days after the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia

10/07/2020

Together with other media freedom and human rights organisations, OBCT again demands justice for all those involved in the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia, who was also a victim of several SLAPPs. Here the text of the call

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The Media Freedom Rapid Response supports Gazeta Wyborcza in Poland who has received over 55 threats of legal action

08/07/2020

A contribution of €15,000 has been granted to respond to the unprecedented legal threats made against Polish newspaper, Gazeta Wyborcza to support the outlet’s legal defence. The Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR), a mechanism to monitor and respond to threats against journalists and media workers in EU Member States and Candidate Countries, is a concrete support against SLAPPs

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Turkey: Alarming plans to further crackdown on social media

06/07/2020

Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) partners are alarmed by the Turkish President’s threats to further restrict or shut down social media. We call on Turkey to comply with its international obligations and refrain from measures that will further prevent and disrupt exercising the right to freedom of expression and information online

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Bulgaria: the end of a legal harassment

06/07/2020

On 28 June the independent publisher and businessman Ivo Prokopiev was finally acquitted, thus confirming that the charges against him can be considered retaliatory and intended to stifle investigative reporting. The Media Freedom Rapid Response partners are relieved but ask to stop all further legal harassment against him and Economedia. Here the statement that was issued before the trial

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