Bulgaria: MFRR partners ask the interim government to examine the state of media freedom in the country - Article

Improvement of the situation in Bulgaria needs significant will, as well as a broader recognition of the fundamental role that independent journalism plays for the society. MFRR asks the interim government to prioritise the investigation of threats and attacks against journalists

Country factsheet: Bulgaria - Article

Called "the black sheep of EU media freedom", Bulgaria faces a lot of issues related to freedom of expression and safety of journalists. Here a detailed overview made by OBCT journalist Francesco Martino, who lives in Sofia

Regardless of Frontiers. Global Freedom of Expression in a Troubled World - Books

A collection of essays where the authors also consider ongoing and new challenges to global norms on freedom of expression and information, from conflicts over hate speech and the rise of populism to authoritarian governments, as well as the profound disruption introduced by the internet

Civil Rights Defenders - Stakeholders

An Expert Organisation for Human Rights. CRD partners with and supports human rights defenders who work in some of the world’s most repressive regions on four continents.

Through advocacy, litigation, and public campaigns, CRD advances people’s rights globally. The organisation also acts as Sweden’s watchdog civil rights group.

Every year, CRD has The Civil Rights Defender of the Year Award, an award for outstanding work in defence of civil and political rights, to recognise a prominent human rights defender who, despite the risk to their own safety, continues the struggle for civil and political rights.
The award highlights the situation of human rights defenders at risk. It enhances their human rights work by providing international recognition and support to the organisation represented by the award recipient. The award recipient is a person who carries out their work without the use of violence and within an independent human rights organisation or network.

Among the support activities, there are security training, emergency support, expertise, organisational development, and long-term financial support.

CRD also brings together its partners so they can exchange experiences, as well as learn from and inspire each other.

North Macedonia: MFRR partners express concern over recent attacks on journalists and media workers - Article

Six alerts regarding North Macedonia have been registered through the Mapping Media Freedom project since the launch of the MFRR in March 2020. In a letter to Prime Minister Zaev, MFRR partners highlight that attacks on journalists and media workers remain an acute problem, undermining press freedom in the country

Building Trust in Journalism - Bulgaria - Reports

Part of the ‘Building Trust in Journalism in CEE’ project, this report provides an overview of the challenges and opportunities that media are facing in Bulgaria

Hungary: a letter of concern to EU institutions - Article

Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) partners are profoundly concerned about the latest media freedom attacks in Hungary, which follow only days after the EU Summit, where Prime Minister Viktor Orbán praised the rule of law situation in his country

Spain: a new law against fact-checking - Article

An analysis by Javier Luque, IPI Head of Digital Communications, for Media Freedom Rapid Response: polarization and attempts by far-right party to smear fact-checkers and journalists corner press freedom in the country

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

Press Cartoonists in Europe must be protected - Article

Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) partners call for press cartoonists to be protected to ensure they can realise their right to free expression across Europe