The Russian VPN ban: another round in the battle for a free Internet - Legal Resources

In the Russian Federation, a new Law that prohibits anonymizers and VPN usage is to enter into force on 1 November 2017. What are VPNs and what does this law mean for freedom of expression? The author attempts to disentangle the technicalities at stake

Turkey: the legality of post-coup actions and the use of Bylock App as evidence in trials - Legal Resources

An opinion on the legality of the Turkish state's reactions following the 2016 attempted coup and of the controversial use of certain facts as evidences of support or membership to a terrorist organization

E-Mail Encryption: how to use Open PGP - Training

These usefull links can provide assistance when encrypting e-mail traffic

Encryption under Threat - Reports

Increasingly, cybersecurity and privacy are undermined in the name of security, for example tackling encryption tools. A report by the German Institute for International and Security Affairs explains why Germany should oppose this trend

Russia versus the European Court of Human Rights: bad news for online freedom of expression? - Legal Resources

Russia’s unwillingness to give up part of its constitutional sovereignty may prevent the effective intervention of the European Court of Human Rights. An analysis focusing on the country's online regulation

Online privacy for journalists. A must-have guide for journalists in 2017 - Manuals

 A guide for journalists and citizens on how to keep their data and sources anonymous when working in the cyberspace 

The Dark Web - Guidance for Journalists - Manuals

The guide explains which advantages the use of the "dark web" offers to journalists

Freedom of Expression and Protection of Journalistic Sources - Reports

A new extensive report on the Protection of Journalistic Sources drafted by the International Legal Research Group and published by the Council of Europe and ELSA

Encryption - A Matter of Human Rights - Reports

Restrictions on access to and use of encryption may constitute an interference with the enjoyment of human rights, holds Amnesty International’s first official stance on encryption 

ECPMF Alarm Centre for Female Journalists under Threat - Support Centres

On 8 March 2016, the ECPMF has created a special Women’s Reporting Point to address and raise awareness on increasing threats against female journalists.

Threats can be reported via encrypted messaging. The secure emails will only be opened by female staff at ECPMF headquarters and their contents will remain confidential. To provide appropriate legal assistance and solidarity to female journalists or media workers who report their cases, ECPMF is partnering with the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and its Italian branch FNSI.

The rationale of this support measure stems from the consideration that female journalists are not only attacked because of their profession, they are also threatened because they are women, as pointed out also by the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media. Gender-based threats, such as sexual and abusive comments, threats of rape or publishing pictures and phone numbers on sex and dating websites target women more often than men.  

ECPMF encourages all women to report attacks in order to seek help, but also to make the dimension of attacks against journalists visible: the reported cases will be collected in a database – with details of the woman’s identity removed in order to protect her – as basis of an analysis to show the scale of the problem across Europe.