The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomes the decision of the French judiciary not to prosecute journalist Ariane Lavrilleux, following the complaint by the French Ministry of Defence for disclosure of a defence secret. The EFJ calls on the French authorities to strengthen legislation on the protection of journalistic sources. “Thank you all for once again putting the need to protect journalistic sources on the agenda. Your mobilisation has enabled me to avoid prosecution. Now we need to reform the law,” wrote journalist Ariane Lavrilleux on Bluesky after three hours of questioning by an anti-terrorist investigating judge at the Paris…

On 7 January, Meta announced the closure of its fact-checking program in the United States, paving the way for a similar decision in Europe. At the same time, Google is considering withdrawing from its commitment to supporting the fact-checking community under the European Union’s Code of Practice on Disinformation. These decisions would have a disastrous effect on Europe’s information space. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) have sent an open letter to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, asking her to act decisively on the basis of the Digital Services Act…

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…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined its Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) partners and the SafeJournalists Network (SJN), in expressing serious concern over the revelations in Amnesty International’s forensic analysis, exposing the invasive use of spyware and other digital tools by Serbian intelligence services and police to hack journalists’ phones as part of a covert surveillance campaign. These concerning revelations come amidst escalating threats against journalists in Serbia. In the report “A Digital Prison”: Surveillance and the Suppression of Civil Society in Serbia” published on 16 December 2024, Amnesty International revealed that mobile forensic products made by the Israeli…

On 10 December 2024, the judge of Minsk City Court, sentenced journalist Volha Radzivonava to four years of imprisonment for criminal defamation. The IFJ and EFJ support their affiliate, the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) in condemning this blatant attack on free speech, as “another effort to silence independent journalism and restrict critical voices in Belarus.” Volha Radzivonava worked for KYKY.org news portal and freelanced for other news outlets. She was arrested on 7 March 2024 for allegedly “discrediting the Republic of Belarus”, “incitement to racial, national, religious, or other social hostility or discord” and “defaming” and “insulting the President…

Less than a week after the publication of our joint appeal to the EU to take urgent EU-wide measures, such as stricter regulation of spyware exports and use, new spyware abuse scandal erupts in Serbia: Serbian intelligence services and police have used spyware and other digital tools to hack the phones of journalists and illegally surveil them, Amnesty International said in a report published on Monday. According to this very documented report, mobile forensic products made by Israeli firm Cellebrite are being used by authorities in Serbia to extract data from journalists and activists’ phones, while new Serbian spyware “NoviSpy”…

The Danish Union of Journalists (DJ) website is no longer visible from Google’s search results for 1% of Danish users as part of a “time-limited test” by Google. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) urges Google to reconsider this “experiment” and restores the visibility of DJ’s and Danish news websites in its search results. The experiment was announced on 14 November and consists of hiding traditional news websites from 1% of users in 8 countries: Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Denmark, Greece, Croatia, Poland and Spain. While a French court ruled the experiment illegal after a complaint from the French…

On 10 December 2024, more than 90 participants discussed via Zoom the development of cooperation between self-regulation and co-regulation bodies in Ukraine, as well as media self-regulation practices in Belgium’s French- and German-speaking regions. They also heard from members of working groups focused on joint responses in the audiovisual, audio, online, and print media sectors. The event brought together representatives from the National Council of Ukraine on Television and Radio Broadcasting, the European Federation of Journalists, and journalists from Ukraine and Europe. The conference featured opening remarks by Ricardo Gutiérrez, Secretary General of the European Federation of Journalists, and Olena Nitsko,…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) stands in solidarity with the workers of Galicia’s public radio and television (CRTVG), who have been on indefinite strike since 7 October against the dismantling of the public service and attempts to punish and coerce workers who exercise their free right to strike. Today, the strike is temporarily suspended after more than thirty days, which has paralysed the broadcasting of the outsourced magazine ‘O Termómetro’, replacing the old programme ‘A Revista’, on the air for almost thirty years. The last programme of the 65 initially contracted will be broadcast, and the strike committee is…

Together with 10 press freedom organisations, the European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ-IFJ) today sent an open letter to EU leaders Ursula von der Leyen, António Costa, Roberta Metsola and Kaja Kallas, calling on the European Union to react to the critical press freedom situation in Georgia.   President of the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen President of the European Council António Costa President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas   Dear President Ursula von der Leyen, Dear President António Costa, Dear President Roberta…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined the Centre for Democracy and Technology Europe (CDT Europe) as well as twelve civil society organisations, many of which are members of the Spyware Coordination Group, in urging the Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union to prioritise action against spyware misuse. Poland will assume the rotating presidency in January 2025. This role, held by each EU member state for six months, allows the presiding country to set the Council’s agenda, chair meetings, and represent the Council in negotiations with other EU institutions. This makes the presidency a crucial opportunity to…