News

SLAPP: a directive drafted by civil society organizations

07/12/2020

The international anti-SLAPP coalition invested time and funds to draft a model directive that would help tackle the issue of vexatious lawsuits: now this paper will be presented to EU institutions and stakeholders, and could serve as a pattern for the promised EU initiatives against SLAPPs

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A History Of Using SLAPP Suits To Silence Women

01/12/2020

Published more than 2 years ago, this overview of the case-law by Bhawana Bisht examines the abuse of the law as a tool to silence women

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France tramples on press freedom

30/11/2020

MFRR partners join International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ), and their French affiliates, the SNJ, SNJ-CGT, CFDT-Journalists calling on the French Prime Minister, Jean Castex, to withdraw three articles from the “Global Security” law

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Country factsheet: Hungary

30/11/2020

In 2020, a number of threats to media pluralism and transparency have continued to further marginalise and threaten media freedom across Hungary. Due to the expansion of pro-Government outlets and the weaponisation of government advertising, most Hungarian citizens receive news only from pro-government outlets. With this kind of control, there is no need to directly attack critical journalists, as they are excluded from the media market. Moreover, the coronavirus crisis had arguably the biggest effect on media freedom

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Poland: Authorities must end police brutality and persecution of protesters and journalists

27/11/2020

Within the initiatives of the Media Freedom Rapid Response, Article 19 condemns the violence and brutality against protesters and journalists in Poland and calls for the immediate cessation of persecution

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Addressing the challenges posed by disinformation in the Western Balkans - Statement by the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC)

25/11/2020

Statement by the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) on the topic of the issue of disinformation in the region, on the occasion of the online webinar „Addressing the challenges posed by disinformation in the Western Balkans“ held in Sarajevo on 11-12 November 2020

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Charges against Polish photojournalist Agata Grzybowska must be dropped

25/11/2020

As part of the MFRR, IPI calls on authorities in Poland to immediately withdraw charges against award-winning photographer

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Italy: Nello Scavo and too many unanswered questions. An article for Mapping Media Freedom

24/11/2020

The platform Mapping Media Freedom hosts an article by the Italian journalist Nello Scavo, under police protection for threats received after the publication of his investigations about the traffic of human beings in Libya

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Czech Republic: MFRR concerned over sidelining of critical media outlets during government press conferences

18/11/2020

MFRR partners sent a letter to the government of the Czech Republic expressing our disappointment over the lack of communication with the media and the repeated denial of access for certain outlets to COVID-19 press conferences

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Poland: IPI condemns police violence against journalists amidst Warsaw clashes

18/11/2020

Just a few days after a similar call, the International Press Institute (IPI) strongly condems police violence against photojournalists reporting on clashes in the Polish capital Warsaw. The violence led to numerous injuries and the hospitalization of a 74-year-old photographer who was shot in the face with a rubber bullet

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