Republika Srpska, the criminalisation of defamation and the squeeze on media freedom - Article

The parliament of Republika Srpska approved in the first instance a bill to amend the criminal code which reintroduces the crime of defamation. Now sixty days of public debate and then back to the assembly. A dangerous step backwards for freedom of expression 

By Arman Fazlić

Originally published by OBCT, also available in ITA and BHS

Albania: Press freedom organisations and journalist associations call for swift justice following deadly attack on Top Channel - Article

OBCT joins MFRR partners in urging Albania’s authorities to pursue the perpetrators who shot dead Pal Kola, Albanian TV station Top channel’s security guard

France: Three journalists summoned by security agency over suspected violation of national defence secrecy - Article

OBCT joins its MFRR partners in expressing its concern regarding the questioning of French journalists from Disclose and Radio France 

Bulgarian far-right party’s ‘foreign agent’ bill sparks media freedom concerns - Article

Press freedom groups raise alarm that law appears intended to target critical media

2022 World Press Freedom Index - Monitoring tool

The 2022 edition of the World Press Freedom Index developed by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) assesses the state of journalism in 180 countries and territories

UN-EU High-level Policy Dialogue on safety of journalists and media freedom - Article

Under the title "Protecting the safety of journalists, media freedom and pluralism in the European Union: challenges and opportunities", a full day of discussions and meetings will analyze the state of media freedom and safety of journalists, collecting recommendations and stories. On 24 February 2022, from 9:30 to 18:00, the event will be both in-person in Brussels, and online

Mapping Media Freedom Monitoring Report 2021 - Reports

The 2021 monitoring report for the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) summarises media freedom violations across EU Member States, candidate countries, and the United Kingdom from January until December 2021. The report is divided in 4 main sections which offer quantitative and qualitative analysis of the main attacks perpetrated against media workers during the year

Saving the News - Why the Constitution Calls for Government Action to Preserve Freedom of Speech - Books

American legal scholar Martha Minow poses timely questions related to the need of government support aimed at ensuring the independence and vitality of the free press

SLAPP: a new engagement by the EU Commission DG Justice - Article

The Directorate-General Justice and Consumers of the EU Commission answers the letter sent by ECPMF and co-signed by OBCT and dozens of organisations: the committment to develop new rules to protect journalists and activists from strategic lawsuits is now a written promise. Here some text of the answer signed by Marie-Helene BOULANGER, Head of Unit

Women harassment on social media: new tools to identify abuse - Article

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