Freedom in the World 2022. The Global Expansion of Authoritarian Rule - Reports

This booklet is a summary of findings for the 2022 edition of Freedom in the World. The complete analysis including narrative reports on all countries and territories can be found at www.freedomhouse.org

Spain: Energy company launches €17.6 million SLAPP lawsuit against El Confidencial - Article

MFRR partners condemn the vexatious SLAPP lawsuit against the newspaper El Confidencial by the Spanish electricity company Iberdrola, which is claiming €17.6 million for alleged “reputational damage”. The MFRR partners see the lawsuit as another example of the urgent need for the introduction of anti-SLAPP legislation at the EU and national levels and reform of the current legal provisions on protection of honour and reputation in line with international freedom of expression standards

Hungarian Capital in Foreign Media. Three Strategic Models of Influencing the Neighbourhood - Reports

The International Press Institute (IPI) published a new report written by regional media experts and investigative journalists on the investment of Hungarian capital in foreign media and the implications for the spread of Viktor Orbán’s “illiberal” model of media control

Free Speech. A History from Socrates to Social Media, by Jacob Mchangama - Books

“The best history of free speech ever written and the best defense of free speech ever made.” —P.J. O’Rourke

Poland: Dismissal of SLAPP-targeted journalist Grzegorz Rzeczkowski sets concerning precedent - Article

The undersigned partners of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) extend their support to journalist Grzegorz Rzeczkowski who faces four SLAPPs and was recently dismissed by Polityka, one of the major independent weekly magazines in Poland, without a transparent reason

Liberties Rule of Law Report 2022 - Reports

The Liberties Rule of Law Report 2022 is the third annual report on the state of rule of law in the European Union, presenting country and trend reports on democratic records by civil society organisations across the European Union. Published by the Civil Liberties Union for Europe, it provides information and analysis from the ground of the state of the rule of law in 17 EU countries

European Media and Platform Policy (EuromediApp) - Stakeholders

European Media and Platform Policy (EuromediApp) is a Jean Monnet network dedicated to studying, analysing and discussing benefits and challenges of digital platforms in Europe and world-wide.

By bringing together knowledge and research capacity from all over Europe and beyond, EuromediApp provides space for national and transnational deliberation on how future digital services should and will be governed. Working papers, teaching material, workshops, conferences and dedicated schools for advanced students are our working tools.

EuromediApp operates for three years (2020 – 2023) along three modules:

1. European political democracy (inclusion and exclusion, diversity and uniformity, trust and distrust);
2. Quality of European (news) ecology, including journalism, individualised procedures of political information, populism, polarisation and depolarisation, personalisation, scandalisation, information/propaganda/misinformation; and
3. European governance models of digital media and the internet by media/platform companies and governments, utopian and dystopian views of digital media and democracy.

Albania: news outlets faced cyber attacks following reports about Mayor of Tirana - Article

Cyber-attacks on news outlets believed to be in relation to their reporting on Tirana’s Mayor Erion Veliaj and the appointment of government loyalist Endri Fuga to lead the Media and Information Agency add to existing challenges for media freedom in Albania. We call for a swift and effective investigation into these attacks and condemn the appointment of Fuga to head the newly established agency

Lithuania: investigative journalism and privacy - Article

Today, the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) partner organisations and the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation have written to Director Raimondas Andrijauskas and Deputy Director Danguolė Morkūnienė of the Lithuanian State Data Protection Inspectorate (SDPI)’s to express concern at their attempted obstruction of investigative project “Karštos Pėdos” (“Hot Feet”)’s journalistic activity

Edelman Trust Barometer 2022 - Reports

A country report about trust in Germany