The MFRR Summit is back! This year, the conference titled “Press Freedom on the Line” will take place online from 29 – 31 March 2023. Reflecting the MFRR’s core campaign areas, the online conference will host in-depth discussions on journalist safety, media capture, the rule of law, and SLAPPs. Hosted on Zoom for interactive participation, and simultaneously livestreamed on the MFRR YouTube channel, the conference will play host to a range of panel discussions, live interviews, and keynote speeches with journalists, media freedom experts, policy-makers, and other stakeholders all working to defend press freedom. Take a look at the daily breakdown…

A Russian court on 1st February sentenced in absentia veteran journalist Alexander Nevzorov to eight years in prison for spreading so-called “false information” about Russia’s war on Ukraine. The European and International Federations of Journalism (EFJ-IFJ) join their Russian affiliate JMWU in condemning this criminalisation of journalism and call on the Russian authorities to review the ruling. Nevzorov came under pressure from authorities for alleging that Russian forces deliberately shelled a maternity hospital in Mariupol, in southern Ukraine. “Journalist Alexander Glebovich Nevzorov was found guilty (…) and sentenced to imprisonment for a period of eight years,” the press service for…

Wage increases are key for working people to maintain a decent standard of living through the cost-of-living crisis. Yet, following years of stagnating wages, the UK government is now attempting to push through legislation to curtail strikes for legitimate pay demands. European trade union federations (ETUFs), including the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), regret the UK government’s conflictual approach and support Britain’s striking workers and their trade unions. The UK government claims it is aligning its laws with those of other Western European countries. The reality is that British strike laws are already amongst the most restrictive of comparable countries…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) fully supports the call by the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, to impose a moratorium on the use of highly intrusive spyware by governments. The EFJ recalls that many journalists have been victims of this abusive surveillance, notably in Hungary, Greece, Spain, France, Belgium and Azerbaijan. In 2021, the Pegasus Project, one of the most ambitious transnational investigative journalism projects, coordinated by Forbidden Stories and assisted by Amnesty International’s forensic lab, exposed the use of spyware to surreptitiously penetrate journalists’ communications. In Hungary, investigations continued into the use of Pegasus…

A new Centre for the Safety of Journalists and Media Workers has been established in Thessaloniki (Greece). The centre, whose opening was delayed by two years due to Covid-19 restrictions, will deal with issues related to the safety of journalists and media workers in war and crisis zones, as well as in daily work. It is supported by the Journalists’ Union of Macedonia and Thrace (ESIEMTH) and is under the scientific responsibility of the Peace Journalism Laboratory of the School of Journalism and Mass Media Studies in the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. The Centre will offer a 29-hour course on…

The European Trade Union Federations (ETUFs) representing tens of millions of workers across all countries and sectors in the EU and beyond in Europe strongly condemn the UK government’s draft legislation on minimum service. It needs to be withdrawn. The UK Conservative government created a mess by refusing to negotiate with workers. Workers demand recognition and decent pay and conditions and a response to the cost-of-living crisis. Instead of serious attempts to negotiate settlements to the current disputes about pay and staffing levels for public service workers, the Conservative government is pushing through a new bill that will impose minimum…

The Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) and the Safe Journalists Network today condemn the shocking physical attack on Albanian journalist Elvis Hila and his wife in Lezhë and urge state law enforcement authorities to swiftly detain the suspected perpetrators and ensure that all those responsible face justice. The violent attack took place at around 4.40pm on Wednesday 25 January, one day after Hila had reported for shqiptarja.com and Report TV about a local court case in Lezhë in which a defendant had been sentenced to a year in prison for forgery of a court document. Soon after publication, Hila said…

Russia’s General Prosecutor’s Office announced on 26 January that it has added the independent news outlet Meduza to the country’s list of “undesirable” organizations. This sanction is intended to force the targeted entities to dissolve. It puts media staff and financial donors at risk of criminal prosecution, including a significant prison sentence. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) strongly condemns this censorship of one of the main sources of independent information in Russia. Russia has been banning “undesirable organizations” since 2015, when lawmakers granted the Prosecutor General’s Office the power to assign this status to any foreign or international non-governmental…