Spain: Energy company launches €17.6 million SLAPP lawsuit against El Confidencial - Article

MFRR partners condemn the vexatious SLAPP lawsuit against the newspaper El Confidencial by the Spanish electricity company Iberdrola, which is claiming €17.6 million for alleged “reputational damage”. The MFRR partners see the lawsuit as another example of the urgent need for the introduction of anti-SLAPP legislation at the EU and national levels and reform of the current legal provisions on protection of honour and reputation in line with international freedom of expression standards

Liberties Rule of Law Report 2022 - Reports

The Liberties Rule of Law Report 2022 is the third annual report on the state of rule of law in the European Union, presenting country and trend reports on democratic records by civil society organisations across the European Union. Published by the Civil Liberties Union for Europe, it provides information and analysis from the ground of the state of the rule of law in 17 EU countries

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

SLAPP and democracy, side effects and collateral damage - Article

Strategic lawsuits against public participation heavily impact on the citizens' right to be informed - that is why society needs to be able to respond to and to prevent this kind of abuse of legal tools. Here is a series of analysis and perspectives inspired by cases involving journalists and human rights defenders in Italy

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

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

A DIY Guide to Feminist Cybersecurity - Manuals

Noah Kelley is the writer and developer of this guide. Fiercely dedicated to establishing a culture of safe, accessible, and enriching technology free from exploitation, Noah explores cyberfeminism through the activist organization HACK*BLOSSOM. This guide is intended to be a comprehensive and accessible introduction to some of the most valuable cybersecurity tools available

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

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

State of SLAPPs in Serbia - Reports

The latest report by ARTICLE 19, the American Bar Association (ABA) Center for Human Rights, and the Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia (NUNS), analyses the provisions that are most commonly misused to file SLAPPs, strategic lawsuits against public participation, in Serbia. The report highlights patterns from multiple cases brought against journalists and activists by public officials and other powerful individuals in the past 10 years

Needs and Gaps Brief No. 1: Italy - Article

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

Curated by Maria Francesca Rita

State of SLAPPs in Spain - Reports

A country report published by Article 19, to describe how journalists and media outlets in Spain are facing multiple lawsuits for exposing corruption, reporting on matters of public concern or covering protests