On this Day of Solidarity with Political Prisoners in Belarus, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins its affiliate the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) in encouraging you to send a letter to the 32 journalists and media workers currently in prison in Belarus. 27 November marks the Global Day of Solidarity with Belarusian Political Prisoners. The number of political prisoners in Belarus is growing with now near 1,450; up from 1,000 in February. The war in Ukraine and solidarity of Belarusians and civil society with Ukraine grant new reasons for the Lukashenka’s regime to target ordinary civilians and journalists.…

In a landmark decision on 22 November 2022, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that the EU anti-money laundering directive’s provisions on access to beneficial ownership registers are “invalid”. The court found that the directive (AMLD5, 2018) interferes with the privacy and personal data protection rights of beneficial owners and should therefore not be made available to a wide public. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) denounced a decision restricting the freedom of information in favour of business interests. The European legislation was adopted in 2015 with the objective to combat money laundering and terrorist financing by…

Italian defamation laws are once again being misused by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to silence and threaten independent journalism in Italy. The undersigned organisations call for the lawsuit against the newspaper Domani to be dropped and for the Italian Parliament to adopt a comprehensive reform of defamation laws in Italy.  In October 2021, the current Prime Minister, at the time member of the Italian Parliament and leader of the far-right party Fratelli d’Italia,  initiated legal action for aggravated criminal defamation against Emiliano Fittipaldi and Stefano Feltri, respectively correspondent and editor of the daily national newspaper Domani. The lawsuit originated from an article that raised…

Twenty-six trade union representatives and journalists from the Balkans region received a 1.5-day training on safety in Zagreb, Croatia, on 22 and 23 November 2022. The practical guidance focused on how to be safer at work and the responsibilities of employers, with a particular focus on the different threats facing journalists. The training was organised prior to the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on 25 November to draw attention to the increasing violence facing female journalists. Neus Vidal from the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) gave a regional overview of the situation. She…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), together with other international media freedom and journalists’ organisations, today outlined their tentative support for reform of the law on Radiotelevizija Slovenija (RTV SLO) and the urgent need to depoliticise the public service media and their oversight bodies amidst continued threats to their independence. The undersigned organisations welcome the initiative of the new coalition government to reduce the influence of politics on the broadcaster’s operations and foster an enabling climate for its public service mission. Events of the last few years at RTV SLO have provided a clear illustration of why such changes are…

SLAPP: Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation. SLAPPs are a form of legal harassment used to intimidate and silence those speaking out in the public interest. They are often used as a tool to suppress information that the plaintiffs don’t want to be brought to light. The plaintiffs are attempting to keep information secret – information that the public has a right to know. Download the PDF:

Blog Post by EDRi (European Digital Rights Association) Shortly before the end of their mandate, the French Presidency of the Council nearly reached a political compromise with the European Parliament on the so-called “e-evidence” proposal. This draft compromise lays down general guidelines to establish a future legal framework enabling national law enforcement to request personal data from private companies located in other Member States of the European Union (EU). However, a few points remain to be agreed upon before the final text can be adopted by the co-legislators. Unfortunately, the direction of the negotiations does not favour the protection of…

In Albania, capture of media by vested business and political interests suffocates journalism. Following a two-day fact-finding mission to Tirana on 17-18 November 2022, the partners of the Council of Europe’s Platform on Safety of Journalists today publish their findings on press freedom, media pluralism and the safety of journalists in Albania. During the visit the organisations met with the journalists association, editors and journalists, government officials, members of parliament, the prime minister, judicial authorities, police, the privacy and information agency, the media regulator, the press council, NGOs and the public broadcaster. Our assessment is that overall Albania continues to…

A Danish TV2 team was prevented from filming in a public space in Doha, Qatar’s capital, on 15 November. Security officials tried to cover the camera and interrupted the live broadcast, in what constitutes one of the first infringements on media freedom against international journalists accredited to report on the World Cup. On the occasion of the start of the football World Cup, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) published a 7-point safety advisory to support journalists’ and media workers’ reporting on the ground.   1. Restrictions on topics and places: While Qatari authorities claim reports on strict conditions placed on media…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins the undersigned international media freedom and journalists organisations in raising the alarm over a draft law submitted to Bulgarian parliament by the far-right Vazrazhdane (Revival) party which would introduce a Russian-style “foreign agent” law involving potential sanctions for media outlets that receive funding from abroad. The draft legislation has been developed by the pro-Russian Vazrazhdane party, which became the fourth largest faction in parliament in the recent elections and is currently in negotiations to form a coalition government. While the passing of the law in the current political climate remains doubtful, it nonetheless…

International media freedom and journalists organisations, including the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), warn that while significant progress has been made by the current government in depoliticising the public broadcaster, regulatory bodies and the legislative framework for the media environment, toxic rhetoric and smear campaigns against media, underfunding of public broadcaster and lack of transparency risk undermining the progress. Following a two-day fact-finding mission to Prishtina on 15-16 November 2022, the partners of the Council of Europe’s Platform on Safety of Journalists today publish their findings on media freedom and the safety of journalists in Kosovo. During the visit the…

Members of the Coalition Against SLAPPs in Europe (CASE), with the support of the coalition’s Italian group and Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR), express solidarity with Roberto Saviano who attended the first hearing in the proceedings for aggravated defamation initiated against him by current Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. We are seriously concerned about the criminal proceedings initiated in 2021 by the current Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, the leader of Fratelli d’Italia. Under the current provisions on defamation, Roberto Saviano risks imprisonment for his criticism of Meloni during a TV programme. Such accusations act as a gag on freedom of expression,…

Is there a story in your local town, somewhere in Europe, that you think is worth sharing with the rest of the world? If the answer is yes, but you lack resources, we may have the solution for you: a grant to support local investigative journalists and/or local news media outlets from several European countries who want to do investigative reporting at the local level in resonance with the European level.  Why local? In every nook and cranny of the world, there are many stories waiting to be told. This grant programme aims to tackle the shortage of local journalists…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) brought its full support to the Spanish and British journalists arrested and detained for covering climate actions this month and joined the Federación de Sindicatos de Periodistas (FeSP) and National Union of Journalists (NUJ) in condemning the arrests. Across the world, climate activists increase the number of actions to raise awareness around the climate crisis. Mouvements such as Futuro Vegetal in Spain and Just Stop Oil in the United Kingdom have recently been on the forefront of the climate scene with impactful actions, resulting in arrests of activists and, worryingly, of journalists and media…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomed the Trade Union of Croatian Journalist (TUCJ)’s initiative to restart negotiations on a branch collective agreement in the media. “A journalist who is not afraid of losing his job can be a truly free journalist,” quotes a press release from the TUCJ. The TUCJ is working on the creation of public media policies to improve social dialogue, media regulation and implement stronger collective agreements, the main goal of the union. It aims to bring together all trade unions in the media sector and has gathered a team of representatives of the Trade Union of Croatian Journalists (SNH), the Trade Union of…

Between 15 and 18 November 2022, partners of the Council of Europe’s Platform on Safety of Journalists will visit Kosovo and Albania to assess the current state of media freedom and protection for journalists in the two countries. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) will join the mission along with ARTICLE 19, the Committee to Protect Journalists, the European Broadcasting Union, the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom, the International Press Institute and Reporters Without Borders. Partner organisations have requested meetings with respective Prime Ministers, ministers, representatives of parliamentary media committees, judicial authorities, local officials, regulatory bodies, public broadcasters…