North Macedonia, media and public funds - Article

In view of the upcoming political and presidential elections, the Macedonian government has reintroduced forms of public funding for the media. However, the country's media organisations argue that the move may aggravate the influence of political interests on news outlets

By Aleksandar Samardjiev 

Originally published by OBCT, also available in ITA

Türkiye: Big tech should protect free speech and resist state censorship - Article

Ahead of Türkiye’s municipal elections on 31 March 2024, 22 rights groups and journalists’ organisations jointly call on social media platforms to uphold the free expression rights of their users and resist state censorship. They should also fully disclose all government requests to restrict accounts or content, and be transparent about informal government pressure to restrict content on their platforms.

Croatia, journalists on the streets - Article

Hundreds of journalists took to the streets in Zagreb against the Plenković government's amendments to the Criminal Code, which limit the right to report. According to the Association of Croatian Journalists, the prime minister wants to silence investigations into his government's corruption

By Giovanni Vale 

Originally published by OBCT. Also available in ITA

Croatia, the assault on the local press - Article

2024 is the year of elections for Croatia: European, political and presidential elections will take place between next June and December. And with the electoral competitions, the race for control of the local media, particularly the regional ones, is gaining ground in a hardly transparent way

By Giovanni Vale 

Originally published by OBCT. Also available in ITA and BHS

Trudeau against Facebook: social media, copyright, and information - Article

In protest against the new Canadian law that requires social media to pay news organisations every time a user shares a link, Facebook has blocked access to news portals, earning the condemnation of Prime Minister Trudeau. In Europe, meanwhile, new regulations are on their way on the removal of content, advertising, and disinformation

By Paola Rosà

Originally published by OBCT in ENG and ITA

Albania: MFRR urges government to scrap new Media and Information Agency - Article

MFRR partners express concern over a new Media and Information Agency that would centralise control over the government's public relations within a single entity. Until greater safeguards can be established to ensure the agency operates in a fair and transparent manner, we urge the government to cancel its establishment

Country factsheet: Hungary - Article

In 2020, a number of threats to media pluralism and transparency have continued to further marginalise and threaten media freedom across Hungary. Due to the expansion of pro-Government outlets and the weaponisation of government advertising, most Hungarian citizens receive news only from pro-government outlets. With this kind of control, there is no need to directly attack critical journalists, as they are excluded from the media market. Moreover, the coronavirus crisis had arguably the biggest effect on media freedom

EU must act on Hungary media market distortion - Article

A coalition of 16 press freedom, freedom of expression and journalists‘ organisations have urged EU Competition Commissioner Margarethe Vestager to act on complaints that the Hungarian government has violated EU state aid rules to undermine media pluralism

Media capture: Toolkit for 21st century autocrats - Article

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The 8th of a series of thematic itineraries to explore the Resource Centre on Media Freedom through a curated aggregation of contents.