In a video message posted to his Facebook page on Tuesday, Meta’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, announced the platform is getting rid of its third-party factcheckers, starting in the United States. While the measure seems to be sparing Europe, for the time being at least, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) is calling on Europe’s political decision-makers to take all necessary measures to support journalism and journalists, against a backdrop of increasing proliferation of disinformation and propaganda on online platforms. Less than two weeks before Donald Trump returns to the White House, Meta (Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and Threads) announced major changes…

On 7 January 2015, 10 staff members of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo were killed in their newsroom by two terrorists. The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ/EFJ) join their French affiliates (SNJ, SNJ-CGT, Force ouvrière and CFDT-journalistes) in commemorating the 10th anniversary of Charlie Hebdo’s massacre and insisting on adopting global binding instruments to protect journalists. The victims were killed when hooded gunmen attacked the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris. Stephanie Charbonnier, also known as ‘Charb‘ was the title’s director. Cartoonists Jean Cabut aka Cabu, Bernard Verlhac aka Tignous, Philippe Honoré and Georges Wolinski were also killed…

Russian state controlled newspaper Izvestia reported Saturday that its freelance correspondent Alexander Martemyanov died from his injuries after a drone hit the civilian vehicle he was traveling in on the Donetsk-Horlivka highway, in Russian-occupied territory in eastern Ukraine. Four other media workers were reportedly injured in the same attack. The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) demand an investigation into these events and call on the warring parties to respect their obligation to protect media workers as civilians. According to Russia’s state Ria Novosti news agency, the vehicle had been returning from covering shelling in the Russian-held city of…

Italian journalist Cecilia Sala was arrested by the Iranian police in Tehran on 19 December, while on assignment, according to the Italian Foreign Ministry. The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ-IFJ) join their affiliate, the Federazione Nazionale Stampa Italiana (FNSI), in calling on the Iranian authorities to release the journalist immediately and unconditionally. In a statement published on 27 December, the Italian Foreign Ministry announced the arrest of Italian journalist Cecilia Sala, 29, by police in Tehran, where the journalist was travelling for her job. According to the ministry, the Italian Ambassador to Iran, Paola Amadei, paid a consular visit, to…

On 4 December, journalist Philippe Miller was arrested by a dozen police officers and placed in police custody for 48 hours for investigating a Parisian law firm. The search of his seized equipment has just been authorized by the liberty and detention judge during a hearing on the contestation of the searched seals. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and its affiliates strongly condemn the judicial intimidation of journalists and reiterate the importance of upholding the fundamental right to the confidentiality of sources. On 18 October, Philippe Miller, who works for the online press site “Warning Trading”, which specialises in news about…

The undersigned press freedom, freedom of expression, media, journalists and human rights organisations express solidarity towards journalists and media in Georgia. Faced with violence, threats, detentions, equipment destruction and seizure, journalists in Georgia are entering what is supposed to be a festive period with uncertainty and fear for their safety. Solidarity and support is needed now more than ever. The MFRR partners condemn continuous attacks and pressure on media workers and repeat the call for a strong reaction by EU officials and institutions to address this violence. The protests against the Georgian Dream’s decision to pause EU membership negotiations started…