Brussels, 17 February 2025 Dear Executive Vice-President Virkkunen, Dear Commissioner Micallef, The AI Office is currently tasked with the critical responsibility of successfully finalising the ‘General-Purpose AI Code of Practice’ by May 2025. As representative organisations of authors and performers from all disciplines, in their capacity as creative workers and rightsholders (copyright and related rights), we write to you to express our concerns about the second draft of this Code of Practice, which was recently published and discussed. As it currently stands, it does not show sufficient progress and fails to take into account the comments expressed by our organisations.…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins the undersigned media freedom and journalists’ organisations in condemning the legal threats issued by the Moscow-based law firm ELWI on behalf of the Russian insurance company Ingosstrakh against the Danish investigative media outlet Danwatch. These actions represent an attempt to intimidate and silence independent journalism, and we stand in full solidarity with Danwatch and its journalists in the face of these threats. Between December 2024 and January 2025, Danwatch received four strongly worded legal letters from ELWI, representing their client Ingosstrakh, a major Russian insurance company, which has previously been sanctioned by the…

The European Commission has released a draft template for the summary of training data designed to support the implementation by AI model operators of the transparency obligations from the AI Act. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) calls on the EU Commission’s AI Office not to be influenced by the Big Tech industry when formulating these obligations and urges to protect the legitimate interests of authors. In order to implement the transparency requirements of the AI Act for providers of generative AI models, the AI Office is currently working on so-called templates. These templates will set the legally binding framework…

To mark the third anniversary of the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), in collaboration with the Center of Photojournalism Géopolis, invites you to the screening of the Oscar-winning documentary “20 Days in Mariupol”. The screening will take place on 25 February 2025 at 19.30 in Brussels. Directed by Ukrainian filmmaker and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Mstyslav Chernov, the documentary offers a harrowing firsthand account of the early days of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Captured by Associated Press journalists trapped in the besieged city of Mariupol, the film provides undeniable evidence of Russian war crimes –…

The Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) published its annual Monitoring Report analysing the press freedom situation in 35 European countries, including the 27 EU Member States and nine countries with EU candidate status. Between January and December 2024, Mapping Media Freedom documented 1,548 press freedom violations targeting 2,567 media-related persons or entities – an alarming increase compared to the 1,153 violations recorded in 2023. Smear campaigns, websites disguised as legitimate news outlets, and obstruction and attacks during reporting are just a few of the major issues media workers faced in 2024. Journalists also faced verbal attacks, physical assault, attacks against…

The Council of Europe’s European Audiovisual Observatory (EAO) published a report analysing the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) ahead of the entry into force of several articles in February 2025. The report highlights both the weaknesses and the strengths of the EMFA, whose application could vary depending on the will of national governments. Although the EMFA has many loopholes, it is the first legal document capable of protecting media freedom and the work of journalists in general. Published in December 2024, the report is divided into 3 main sections: “Legal basis and (ongoing) controversy”, “The EMFA in a nutshell”, and…

The Council of Europe’s European Audiovisual Observatory (EAO) published a report analysing the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) ahead of the entry into force of several articles in February 2025. The report highlights both the weaknesses and the strengths of the EMFA, whose application could vary depending on the will of national governments. Although the EMFA has many loopholes, it is the first legal document capable of protecting media freedom and the work of journalists in general.In this article, we have summarised the main points raised by this report. The institutional framework Chapter IV of the EMFA introduces the institutional…

The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ-IFJ) on Thursday expressed their support for the Moscow correspondent of the French daily newspaper Le Monde, Benjamin Quénelle, who has just had his accreditation revoked by the Russian authorities. The EFJ and IFJ call on the Russian authorities to reverse their decision. The Russian authorities have decided to revoke the accreditation of Benjamin Quénelle, correspondent for the daily newspaper Le Monde. After having had his press accreditation suspended on 16 October 2024, Benjamin Quénelle was notified of the cancellation of this document on 30 January 2025, effectively banning him from working as…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), together with undersigned press freedom, freedom of expression, human rights, and journalists’ organizations, and media outlets, expresses serious concern over the recent escalation of press freedom violations in Turkey, marking a troubling start to the new year. The frequent use of arbitrary arrests, detentions, judicial control measures, and convictions poses an existential threat to independent media, democratic discourse, and fundamental human rights in the country.  Turkey must ensure that its practices align with international standards for the protection of freedom of expression and press freedom, as well as with the protections enshrined in its…

Update 05/02/2025: According to the Georgian Special Penitentiary Service, journalist Mzia Amaglobeli was transferred yesterday to the Civil Sector Clinic Vivamedi with her consent, in order to conduct medical examinations. ————————- The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) reiterates its demand for the immediate release of journalist Mzia Amaglobeli who has been on a hunger strike for 24 days following her unlawful arrest in Batumi, Georgia. The EFJ is also concerned about the intensification of repression in the country and the apparent capture of the Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB) by the ruling Georgian Dream party in order to impose censorship on…

The US president Donald Trump has threatened to target Europe after launching then pausing import tariffs on Canada and Mexico. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) believes that now is the right time for European governments to make tech giants pay to profit from content produced by European news outlets and their journalists. We call on governments to follow Australia’s example with its newly adoptednews bargaining incentive aimed at ensuring large digital platforms contribute to the sustainability of news and journalism. Tax Big Tech in order to guarantee platform remuneration (fair share) for journalistic content: this was one of the…

UPDATE (03.02.2025): We received a counterstatement from ELLE Serbia (see below). The EFJ takes note of the counterstatement from Mondo INC d.o.o., publisher of ELLE in Serbia. However, we contest any intention to cause harm and demand that full light be shed on the termination of the collaboration with journalist Tara Đukić. You’ll find below our reply to the publisher’s counterstatement. ———— Several journalists have been dismissed and a number of attacks against media professionals have been recorded since wider protests swept across Serbia following a fatal accident at a train station on 1 November 2024. The International and European…

“Collective bargaining for freelancers” was the topic of the second ‘Stand up for Journalism’ workshop organised by the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the French journalists’ union SNJ-CGT in Vichy, France, on 23-24 January 2025. Thirty-six union representatives and journalists discussed the challenges specific to the self-employed, such as collective negotiations, copyright, and the European legal frameworks.  Freelance journalists are no longer an exception in the media landscape in Europe and many unions that were previously unable to represent them have changed their rules to enable them to do so. Participants have expressed that freelancer is less and less…

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), one of the largest official aid agencies in the world, has been instructed to stop projects following a 90-day foreign aid freeze imposed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The measure affects dozens of independent media outlets in more than 30 countries, deprived of U.S. support programs to strengthen journalistic professionalism, establish media management skills, and promote free and independent media. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) is calling on all potential European donors to take action to compensate for the US withdrawal, in particular to ensure the survival of Ukrainian media, the…

Several journalists working for Hír TV were dismissed on 23 December 2024, just days after forming a union to enhance their working conditions. The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ-IFJ) join their affiliate in Hungary, the Hungarian Press Union (HPU), in expressing its solidarity with the dismissed journalists and denouncing a violation of labour law. The redundancies took place against a backdrop of trade union development within Hír TV, a pro-government news channel, as a group of employees joined the Hungarian Press Union (HPU) and formed, on 10 December 2024, the Hír TV Basic Union of the Press Union,…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) today gave its full support to the Serbian journalists’ organisations which have called for a general strike to take part in the action of “general civil disobedience” organised by Serbian students following the tragic accident at the Novi Sad train station, killing 15 people. The EFJ denounces in particular the threats made by the Serbian Minister of Information and Telecommunications Dejan Ristić against the Serbian Coalition for Media Freedom. More than 80 newsrooms in Serbia are on strike today, in response to a call from the Coalition for Media Freedom. Denying the newsrooms’ ability…