Cyprus is proposing an amendment to its criminal code that will introduce prison sentences of up to one year (*) for anyone caught spreading “fake news” or writing “offensive” comments. The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) join their Cypriot affiliate, the Union of Cyprus Journalists (UCJ-ESK), in denouncing this criminalisation of fake news and its chilling effect on press freedom. A legislative amendment concerning the criminalisation of the dissemination of false news, threats, insults and the dissemination of obscene photos and images on the Internet will be presented to the plenary session of the Cypriot Parliament in September.…

The Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) partners strongly condemn the cyber disinformation campaign against the press freedom organisation Reporters Without Borders (RSF). The attacks have been orchestrated by the Paris-based communications agency “Progressif Media”, whose minor stakeholder is the Vivendi Group, a French mass-media holding company controlled by media tycoon Vincent Bolloré. The MFRR stands in full solidarity with RSF and urges a swift and thorough investigation into the disinformation campaign. On 4 July, RSF revealed a two-month investigation, which included information from an internal Progressif Media document entitled “Vivendi Report”. This document detailed attacks aimed at portraying the press…

On 29 June, as journalist Thomas Dietrich was about to publish an investigation entitled “When Macron protects Marine Le Pen’s financier” for online media OFF Investigation, he received a chilling threat of violence sent on the Whatsapp instant messaging network. The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) and their affiliates in France, SNJ, SNJ-CGT, CFDT-Journalistes, strongly condemn these actions, apparently aimed at preventing Dietrich from publishing his work. We call on the authorities to investigate the threats against him. Thomas Dietrich, an investigative journalist specialising in “Françafrique” (France’s sphere of influence over former French colonies in sub-Saharan Africa), has…

More than 60 media, journalists and civil society organizations, including the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ),  have signed an open letter urging Israel to give journalists independent access to Gaza. The organizations – which include the EFJ, Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, BBC, CNN, The Guardian, The New York Times, and The Washington Post – point out that no independent media access to Gaza has been permitted since the start of the war, increasing the pressure on domestic journalists, and creating a space for mis- and disinformation to flourish. “More than 100 journalists have been killed since the start of the war and…

Come to Voices as an awardee!  The Voices Awards are back for the second edition of the Voices Festival, the brand-new itinerant event co-funded by the European Commission to celebrate Journalism and Media Literacy in Europe. Free registration is already open for this next edition which will take place in Zagreb, Croatia from 25 February to 1 March 2025.  The awards aim at recognising the works of journalists that best convey the values and goals of the Voices Festival, with a competition rewarding innovative ideas and change-makers around journalism. Each winner will receive a €1,000 monetary prize. Find below the…

Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office on Wednesday has labeled The Moscow Times news outlet an “undesirable organisation”, outlawing its activities inside Russia and leaving anybody who cooperates with them open to criminal prosecution. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and its Russian affiliate JMWU strongly condemn this new censorship action, which aims to invisibilise and criminalise independent voices. “A decision has been taken to declare the activities of The Moscow Times, a foreign non-government organisation, undesirable on the territory of the Russian Federation,” the office of Russia’s Prosecutor General said in a statement. It said the outlet was “aimed at discrediting…