More than 850 journalists, photographers, media executives and reporters signed an opinion against Google‘s decision to refuse to compensate the press sector for information referenced on its search engine and services. The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ and IFJ), representing respectively 320,000 journalists in Europe and 600,000 worldwide, co-signed this opinion and called on the EU States to act against this abuse of dominance. « Today, Google is attacking the press. Tomorrow it will be music, cinema. We believe that Google can not be above the law or flout the will of the European Parliament. This is an…

The Dutch journalists led by the EFJ member, the Journalists’ Association of the Netherlands (NVJ) are protesting against the decision of the Court of Rotterdam to held “hostage” NOS reporter, Robert Bas, who refused to reveal his source as demanded by the court. Bas was asked by the court to provide witness to a criminal case investigation, which requires him to compromise the protection of confidential sources. He refused the demand from the court and subsequently held by the court by refusing to provide evidence. Thomas Bruning, the NVJ General Secretary criticised the decision: “It is incomprehensible that a journalist…

The political conflict between Catalonia and Spain has reached its most critical point with a week of protests against the sentence that condemned Catalan leaders between 9 and 13 years of prison. Some of the demonstrations have turned into a scenario of violence between protesters and police officers. The journalists, in between, are suffering the consequences of this confrontation: 59 journalists had been injured as for today (65 according to Mèdia.cat, but some of them are still unidentified), some of the reporters have been held in custody and informing about the situation is becoming more and more difficult. The European…

Stanislav Aseev, an Ukrainian journalist who has been held captive since June 2017 in Donetsk, has today given a 15-year sentence and a ban to practice journalism for 2.5 years by the “Supreme Court” of the self-proclaimed “Donetsk People’s Republic” in east Ukraine. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) was shocked by the decision and reiterated its call for the immediate release of Aseev. Ricardo Gutiérrez, EFJ General Secretary, said: “The mistreatment of Aseev and now the harsh sentence are blatant violations of media freedom. “The authorities must stop criminalising journalists and depriving their rights to exercise freedom of speech.” Sergiy…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has participated today at the European Parliament in the workshops and the conference ‘Risking everything to uphold EU values and democracy: protecting journalists in the EU’, organised by Renew Europe Group and Romanian MEP Ramona Strugariu. During the conference, MEP Sophie in’t Veld said that the murder of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia had a significant role and importance. She stated that Malta will only be able to regain press freedom with the end of impunity for the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia. Daphne’s son, Matthew Caruana Galizia, made a tribute to her work and…

A new report by the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), the Syndicate of Journalists of Czech Republic, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the Nordic Association of News Publishers and the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF)  reveals the state of media in the Czech Republic. A fact-finding delegation met with 14 key informants including journalists, editors, directors, teachers, politicians and founders from various part of the Czech media landscape, both public service media and private media. During the mission, it was noticed that the prime minister’s close link to the media he used to own is totally unacceptable for…