Dissident journalists Elena Kostyuchenko, a former reporter for the investigative newspaper Novaya Gazeta, and Irina Babloyan, previously a journalist for the broadcaster Ekho Moskvy, believe they were poisoned in Germany and Georgia respectively in October 2022. The European and the International Federations of Journalists (EFJ-IFJ) call on the competent authorities to thoroughly investigate these disturbing allegations and bring the perpetrators to justice. The Federations urged governments to protect Russian journalists in exile. German authorities are investigating a possible poisoning on Russian journalist Elena Kostyuchenko in October 2022, the Berlin prosecutor has confirmed, according to The Guardian. The alleged attack could have…

AI-generated disinformation is a growing concern, especially in an age of general mistrust in the news. Disinformation continues to spread on social media platforms and raises various problems: the influence of malicious actors such as bots; creation of memes, videos or other visual content with the intention of changing opinions; generation of incorrect text that appears convincing, and more. Young people are generally enthusiastic about using Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a UN report found a high level of trust in AI and a positive attitude. However, most do not deeply understand how it works. At the same time, German magazine…

Solo self-employed journalists now have the possibility to be included in collective bargaining by their unions. But what does this mean in practice? Almost a year since the implementation of the European Commission guidelines on collective bargaining for the solo self-employed, we take a look at how they have benefitted, or not, our members in the EFJ Freelance Expert Group (FREG). The EFJ has welcomed the Guidelines as an important step towards strengthened collective bargaining and has recognised its counteracting force to rebalance power relations in the labour market. Nonetheless, these are Guidelines and while they may have an authoritative…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) is calling on the US government funded media organization Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) to commission an independent inquiry into the management of its Azerbaijan service Azadliq Radiosu, which is facing a worrying wave of dismissals and resignations. Over the past two years, four journalists have been fired and three others have resigned at Azadliq Radiosu, the Azerbaijani service of RFE/RL. The journalists concerned denounce threats and harassment by the radio’s editor-in-chief and management. On 9 August, five former journalists (Islam Shikhali, Ravan Seyfulla, Orkhan Rustamzadeh, Arzu Aliyeva and Ramin Deko) issued a joint statement about what they describe…

The CASE coalition, of which the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) is a member, took part in public consultations to comment on the Council of Europe’sDraft Recommendation to counter SLAPPs. The EFJ joins CASE in strongly supporting the approval of the text by the Committee of Ministers and will continue supporting CoE’s efforts to curb SLAPPs and to see the draft implemented by its member states. Through CASE comments, we want to bring attention to sections in the text that we strongly believe should be kept and that, if removed or weakened, can greatly affect the effectiveness of the Draft…

In Belarus, since the fraudulent presidential election of 9 August 2020, journalists have faced hundreds of arrests and detentions. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins its Belarusian affiliate, the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), in condemning the indiscriminate repression by the regime of dictator Alexander Lukashenko. The EFJ and BAJ demand the immediate release of the 35 journalists and media workers currently imprisoned in Belarus. The EFJ joins IFEX in supporting BAJ ongoing Solidarity Marathon on behalf of imprisoned journalists. 9 August 2023 is the third anniversary of the most recent presidential election in the Republic of Belarus. Three years ago, manipulated elections kept “Europe’s…