An İstanbul court has shut down independent news website T24 and its social media accounts over content prosecutors described as “LGBT propaganda”. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) condemns this crackdown by the Turkish authorities on journalists, LGBTQ+ rights groups and online platforms across Turkey. T24, which has been operating since 2009, is one of Turkey’s leading independent news sources. The organisation’s website and social media accounts were shut down on 30 September. The decision was justified by the İstanbul 1st Criminal Court of Peace on the grounds that 118 pieces of content constituting so-called “LGBT propaganda” had been produced…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins its affiliate, the Union of Journalists in Finland (UJF), in expressing deep concern over the announcement by STT, the Finnish national news agency, that it may have to wind down its news and photo operations. This puts one of Europe’s oldest news agencies at risk of closure after almost 140 years. According to STT, the decision follows long-standing losses in its news and photojournalism units. The agency has started restructuring negotiations that could lead to 95 dismissals and the end of its current operations on 31 March 2027. It is still possible that…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined IPI, CPJ, RSF and ECPMF to send a joint letter to Maltese Prime Minister Robert Abela, calling on the government to commit to an open, transparent, and consultative review of a pending draft media reform bill. Our joint letter:  

On 18 September, the management of Deutsche Welle (DW), Germany’s international public service broadcaster, reversed its decision to discontinue the Greek-language service. The service will continue in a reduced form from 1 January 2027. The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ-IFJ) praise the joint efforts of their affiliates that fought to save the Greek service: POESY and its member unions JUADN, ESIEMTH and PEPU-ESPIT, the Union of Cyprus Journalists, the Deutscher Journalisten-Verband (DJV) and the German Journalists’ Union (dju) in ver.di. The Federations welcome this major victory for Greek audiences and for media pluralism across Europe. It prevents job…

Today, Tuesday 29 September at 10:00, our Dutch affiliate NVJ, the collective management organisation Lira Foundation and the Dutch authors’ union Auteursbond are calling on freelancers to demonstrate in front of Meta’s Dutch headquarters in Amsterdam. The leadership of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) will be holding a similar event this lunchtime in Brussels. Meta is using the work of freelance journalists, writers and translators to train its AI models, without consent and without pay. The Dutch organisations are preparing a collective lawsuit against Meta. Their aim is a collective agreement with AI companies that ensures fair pay, gives creators control…

A few weeks ago, a far-right anti-immigration protest turned particularly violent in The Hague, with several journalists reporting verbal and physical attacks to PersVeilig, the foundation ensuring a safer place for media and journalists operating in the Netherlands. Those reports are not isolated, they echo the monitoring of severe attacks against journalists the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has documented since the beginning of the year, thanks to its affiliate, the Dutch Association of Journalists (NVJ), and PersVeilig.  Amid concerns over journalists’ safety in the Netherlands, the EFJ interviewed PersVeilig safety advisor Isabella Prins, to reflect on the ongoing state…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins its affiliate, Bosnia-Herzgovina Journalists’ Association (BHN), in warning that BHRT, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s public service broadcaster, is on the verge of shutting down, and in calling for urgent action from Bosnian and European institutions to prevent its possible collapse. BHRT has been in a long-standing financial and institutional crisis, but the situation has now reached a point where the broadcaster’s very survival is at risk. Last week, BHRT was forced to start reducing its programming due to a lack of funding, while its bank accounts have been blocked for over a month. There…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins its Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) partners and the undersigned press freedom and free expression organisations in expressing our firm support for our colleague Massimo Moratti, the Senior Research Affiliate for the Osservatorio Balcani Caucaso Transeuropa (OBCT), as he faces expulsion from Serbia in apparent connection with his human rights work. We urge Serbian authorities to immediately withdraw the expulsion order and allow our colleague to remain in the country with his family and continue his work. On 4 September, Serbian authorities denied Moratti’s request for temporary residence on grounds of “unacceptable security…

On 13 September, journalist Tuğba Tekerek was detained and transferred to Ankara over an article she had published in 2024 concerning the LGBTI+ movement in Georgia. Her detention is part of a wave of raids and arrests carried out by the Turkish authorities targeting LGBTI+ activists, organisations and human rights defenders. The International and the European Federations of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) join their affiliates, DİSK Basın-İş and Türkiye Gazeteciler Sendikası (TGS), in condemning the arbitrary detention and intimidation of journalists for covering LGBTI+ issues and call for their immediate release. The federations underline that LGBTI+ rights are human rights, and fair…

First legal battle won in France at a time when journalists are threatened with being replaced by the artificial intelligence (AI). On Tuesday, 15 September, the Judicial Court of Créteil ordered the partial suspension of a plan to dismiss journalists as editorial secretaries (secrétaires de rédaction) within the Infopro Digital press group in favor of AI. In total, 19 journalists are threatened with losing their jobs and 26 professional press titles published by Infopro Digital are directly impacted. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomes this decision as historic for the entire profession, at a time when the use of…

Today, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) held a Fundamental Rights and Rule of Law (FRRL) Group hearing dedicated to the topic of online harassment of women. This provided the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) with an opportunity to reaffirm the importance of tackling online harassment of women journalists as a professional risk issue. “Online attacks do not remain confined to the screen. We have been monitoring several incidents that have escalated offline, putting women journalists at serious risk and requiring a timely response and safety measures. Unfortunately, online harassment is difficult to tackle as threats are under-reported and…

On 8 September, TV journalists from We Are Ukraine (Ми — Україна) and We Are Ukraine+ (Ми — Україна+) were broadcasting live as part of the national “United News” telethon, when a Russian airstrike hit the building and significantly damaged the premises and injured six. The International Federation of Journalists and the European Federation of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) join their affiliates, the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU) and the Media Trade Union of Ukraine (MTUU) in strongly condemning the attack. According to the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU), the team had just finished a staff meeting before going…

The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ-IFJ) join its affiliate, Sindikat novinarjev Slovenije (SNS), together with the other signatories below, and reiterate our serious concern over proposed amendments to Slovenia’s RTV Act, which threaten to dismantle the financial and editorial independence of the country’s public service broadcaster. The amendments, proposed by the Ministry of Culture, would fundamentally change the governance structure of RTV Slovenia, strengthen government control, curtail employee participation in supervisory and governing bodies, and threaten institutional and editorial autonomy. “Whenever someone attempts to alter the foundations on which the independence of a public media organisation rests, they…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins its partners of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR), the SafeJournalists Network (SJN), Reporters without Borders (RsF), the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Reporting Diversity Network (RDN), and the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) in being 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. In recent days, a number of accounts have become inaccessible or restricted on Meta platforms. Meta subsequently acknowledged that some accounts had been removed incorrectly, restored affected…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) condemns the fines imposed by the Dutch Health and Youth Care Inspectorate (IGJ) on four national newspapers, NRC, de Volkskrant, AD and De Telegraaf, over their reporting on weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic. DPG Media, publisher of de Volkskrant and AD, was fined €51,000, while Mediahuis, publisher of NRC and De Telegraaf, was fined €132,000. The IGJ ruled that the coverage amounted to unlawful advertising of prescription medicines. The incident has been documentedon the Mapping media freedom platform EFJ affiliate, The Dutch journalists’ union (NVJ) said the fines “can have a chilling effect on…