Albania: Social media platforms must protect media and public-interest accounts from coordinated manipulation - Article

The partners of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR), the SafeJournalists Network (SJN), and other partner organizations are concerned about recent incidents in Albania in which media, journalists, civic initiatives and other public-interest accounts have faced unexplained restrictions, removals and apparent attempts to manipulate social-media enforcement systems.

Malta: MFRR laments major setback after acquittal in Daphne Caruana Galizia murder trial - Article

MFRR partners today lament the failure to convict the alleged mastermind in the trial for the murder of Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia and hope that the demoralising verdict will swiftly be overturned on appeal.

SLAPPs in Moldova: Lessons from investigative media outlet Cu Sens - Article

The Moldovan investigative journalism outlet Cu Sens has faced numerous legal threats in recent years. In this interview, Felicia Crețu and Liuba Șevciuc discuss how they responded to these challenges and the lessons they learned from their experience

By Gian Marco Moisé

Originally published by OBCT. Also available in ITA

Bulgaria: Press freedom groups demand safety of journalist Dimitar Stoyanov is guaranteed following alleged threats - Article

The undersigned international media freedom organisations today raise alarm over the coordinated campaign of pressure against Bulgarian investigative journalist Dimitar Stoyanov and call on national authorities to guarantee his safety and respond forcefully to allegations of a potential assassination attempt in response to his reporting

Albania: Elected officials must refrain from public targeting and delegitimisation of media organisations - Article

OBCT joins free expression organizations in expressing concern over the public targeting and ethnic delegitimisation of Kristina Voko, Executive Director of BIRN Albania

Serbia: Total impunity entrenched 27 years after killing of editor Slavko Ćuruvija - Article

Twenty-seven years after the assassination of Serbian newspaper publisher and editor Slavko Ćuruvija in Belgrade, the undersigned media freedom organisations mark the upcoming anniversary of the killing by lamenting the complete impunity for those responsible for one of the most serious attacks on journalism in the country’s history.

Serbian authorities must stop the spiral of violence against journalists - Article

Media freedom in Serbia remains trapped in a downward spiral amidst record levels of physical violence against journalists, death threats and online smear campaigns, alarming levels of impunity, and tight political control over the media landscape, a coalition of media freedom organisations concluded.

Hungary: Espionage charges against Szabolcs Panyi mark a dangerous step toward Orbán’s authoritarian rule - Article

OBCT joins MFRR partners in standing in solidarity with Hungarian journalist Szabolcs Panyi, who faces espionage charges in response to his investigations regarding Russian interference in Orban's election campaign

Amendments to Albania’s Criminal Code must be strengthened to ensure full decriminalisation of defamation - Article

The undersigned organisations of the SafeJournalists Network, partners of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR), Reporters Without Borders (RSF) today stress that recent amendments to Albania’s Criminal Code, though positive, must be strengthened to ensure decriminalisation of defamation

Ukraine: Peace plan must ensure accountability for crimes against journalists - Article

As negotiations continue over a peace plan to end the Russian war on Ukraine, Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) and partner organisations strongly oppose any proposals on granting amnesty for potential war crimes committed in the course of Russia’s full-scale invasion, especially for those against journalists.