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

MFRR Monitoring Report: January - June 2021 - Reports

The MFRR monitoring report summarises press and media freedom violations across EU Member States and candidate countries from January 2021 until June 2021. Throughout the reporting period, 272 alerts have been documented, ranging from verbal attacks to legal incidents. 438 individuals or media entities in 26 countries have been subject to one or more press freedom violations

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

Nineteen organisations condemn the lawsuits brought against Catherine Belton and HarperCollins, deeming them “SLAPPs” - Article

The undersigned organisations express their serious concern at the legal proceedings that are being brought against journalist and author Catherine Belton and her publisher HarperCollins

Legal harassment and abuse of the judicial system against the media - Reports

This special report by the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media focuses on three of the most poignant and current topics related to legal harassment: “extremism” and terrorism related charges under public law; defamation claims under public law; and abusive private lawsuits against journalists and other media workers. The report aims to provide general guidance to the OSCE participating States regarding their related commitments

Online attacks against journalists: Know Your Rights - Legal Resources

A guide though legislation and legal tools to tackle online harassment, published by the International News Safety Institute (INSI), Thomson Reuters Foundation and UNESCO

Italy: Journalists face fresh violence covering ‘green pass’ protests - Article

The undersigned partners of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) are highly concerned about yet another series of violent attacks and threats to journalists and media workers covering protests against the government’s pandemic-related measures across Italy

Turkey: growing digital censorship compounds press freedom crisis - Article

We joined ten other organisations in a mission to Turkey led by IPI. While the government refused the invitation for a meeting, journalists, civil society representatives, MPs and other institutions denounced an ever-worsening environment for Turkey's remaining independent press

Fifteen organisations condemn the lawsuits brought by ENRC against the Financial Times, Harper Collins, and journalist Tom Burgis in London - Article

The undersigned organisations express their serious concern at the legal proceedings that have been filed in a UK court against journalist and author Tom Burgis, his publisher HarperCollins, and his employer the Financial Times (FT)