What’s in a joke? Assessing humor in free speech jurisprudence - Reports

Primarily aimed at legal professionals, yet also valuable to policymakers or advocacy groups, this toolkit is conceived to provide orientation in assessing humour in the context of free speech adjudication, exploring the specific challenges it poses, the legal safeguards protecting humour and satire as well as the limitations of their exercise, to present concrete interpretative tools in free speech cases, while also considering the relevant intersections with intellectual property law

Albania: MFRR and SafeJournalists condemn blatant intimidation of journalists covering parliamentary elections - Article

OBCT joins partners from the Media Freedom Rapid Response and the SafeJournalists Network in raising alarm over numerous incidents of intimidation and obstruction faced by journalists covering the Albanian parliamentary elections

Albania: Media freedom groups welcome court verdict on seizure of journalist Elton Qyno’s equipment - Article

SafeJournalists Network, the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) welcome the decision of the Constitutional Court of Albania which overturned the lower-court orders allowing the search and seizure of journalist Elton Qyno’s equipment, reinforcing the importance of protecting journalistic sources and freedom of expression in line with international standards

Free expression organisations in solidarity with the award-winning artist and human rights defender Badiucao - Article

More than 40 organisations from around the world stand in solidarity with the award-winning Chinese-Australian political cartoonist, artist and human rights defender Badiucao as he faces legal harassment in relation to his protest art

Study Trip to Thuringia for Young Journalists organized by Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Paris - Reports

Applications are open for aspiring and young journalists to join a study trip to Thuringia, focused on memory, history, and the rise of the far right

CMPF Summer School for Journalists and Media Practitioners - Reports

The call for the 2025 CMPF Summer School for Journalists and Media Practitioners is now open. From June 23 to June 27 2025, this year’s edition will be exploring journalism, tech, and democracy in a rapidly evolving information landscape. 

Open Letter: Surveillance warrants targeting journalists are dangerous for democracy - Article

OBCT, alongside free expression organizations, Romanian journalists and media outlets, condemns the surveillance of journalists by Romanian prosecutors as a violation of press freedom 

Originally published in Romanian and English by ActiveWatch and the Center for independent Journalism

Ukraine: MFRR partners stand with journalists, 3 years since start of full-scale invasion - Article

On 24 February 2025, Ukraine marks three years since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion. While the current scale of Russian attacks against journalists cannot be compared to that at the start of the war, they remain worryingly high and persistent

Media Freedom organisations call for action as press freedom violations surge in Turkey in 2025 - Article

The undersigned press freedom, freedom of expression, human rights, and journalists’ organisations, and media outlets, express serious concern over the recent escalation of press freedom violations in Turkey, marking a troubling start to the new year. The frequent use of arbitrary arrests, detentions, judicial control measures, and convictions poses an existential threat to independent media, democratic discourse, and fundamental human rights in the country

Trentino, journalism and gag lawsuits (2) - Article

Media outlets in Trentino are targeted by mayors, entrepreneurs and even magistrates; however, tracking this form of legal harassment remains challenging. Second part of an investigation into the phenomenon of SLAPPs in Trentino

By Paola Rosà

(Read the first part of the investigation)

Fist published by OBCT, also available in ITA