News

Netherlands: International mission on the safety of Dutch journalists

05/01/2022

As part of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR), Free Press Unlimited (FPU) and the European Center for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) are organising an international media freedom mission to the Netherlands. With the mission, the consortium members want to map the decreasing security of journalists in the country, but also highlight the existence of security mechanisms for journalists such as the PersVeilig (Press Safe) established in 2019. The mission will be held at the beginning of 2022

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Poland: Media freedom groups urge President Duda to veto ‘Lex-TVN’

22/12/2021

We signed a letter to President Duda urging him to apply a presidential veto to the so-called "Lex-TVN". The bill is not a principled and proportionate effort to protect the Polish information landscape, but a way to undermine one particular outlet that is part of a wider effort to “repolonise” the media

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Serbia: Wave of lawsuits against investigative portal KRIK chills media freedom

21/12/2021

In recent months, KRIK’s newsroom has been targeted by ten different procedures requesting a total of 90 million dinars in damages. MFRR partners believe that these cases are a form of SLAPPs and demand urgent actions to address the growing phenomenon in the country

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Germany: MFRR expresses concern over rising attacks against journalists covering protests

20/12/2021

The undersigned partners of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) today express their concern about the increasing number of attacks against journalists across Germany, particularly in the context of anti-vaccine demonstrations. We call for better safety measures and protection as well as thorough investigations of attacks against journalists covering such demonstrations. Moreover, preventative measures are needed to stop such attacks from happening. Finally, we encourage media workers to report press and media freedom violations

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EFJ statement on Italian journalists locked up by Romanian anti-vax senator

16/12/2021

EFJ statement as part of MFRR on the attack on the RAI crew and the unjustified arrest of the journalists by the Romanian police

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Malta: need to amend a legal notice about privacy

07/12/2021

We co-signed a letter to Malta authorities concerning the possibility to erase personal data from court decisions: the principle of publicity of court proceedings, including the verdict, as protected under European human rights law and extensively developed in the European Court of Human Rights’ jurisprudence, is an essential means for realising the right to a fair trial and maintaining public confidence in the judiciary

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Shape the DSA so it can empower all users to act against wrongful platform decisions

04/12/2021

We co-signed an open letter to Members of the European Parliament promoted by EU DisinfoLab and HateAid concerning the need to fix asymmetries between users and platforms

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Serbia: MFRR welcomes renewed convictions for murder of Slavko Ćuruvija

03/12/2021

We joined our MFRR partners in welcoming the confirmed guilty verdicts for the murder in 1999 of journalist and editor-in-chied Slavko Ćuruvija. The decision represents an important step in the long fight against impunity for the killing of journalists in Serbia

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Serbia: Penal Code amendments require open and comprehensive debate

02/12/2021

We co-signed a statement calling for a broader and open consultation on the amendments of the Penal Code proposed by the Ministry of Justice

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Poland: journalist’s criminal defamation conviction may further impair freedom of expression

01/12/2021

MFRR partners stand in solidarity with Polityka journalist Ewa Siedlecka, who has been convicted of criminal defamation. Amid the ongoing erosion of media freedom in Poland, there is a justified fear that this verdict might pave the way for a wider criminalisation of expressing an opinion based on information present in the public space

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