The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) today joined media organisations in demanding a journalist’s privilege (Article 17) over content moderation, ahead of the vote on the European Media Freedom Act scheduled next week in the European Parliament. Media freedom and journalistic integrity have not only become the plaything of individual governments in the EU in recent years. Also, very large online platforms (VLOPs), that have become key distribution channels for editorial content, are increasingly exerting influence on the media landscape and restricting media freedom and pluralism. Based on their algorithms and content moderation practices, VLOPs decide who gets to read,…

In the run-up to the European Parliament’s vote on the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA), scheduled on 3 October 2023, 500 journalists have signed the letter below calling on MEPs to introduce an absolute ban on the deployment of spyware against journalists. Dear honorable Members of the European Parliament, Ahead of the upcoming vote of the draft report on the proposed European Media Freedom Act (EMFA), journalists in Europe are urging you to introduce an absolute ban on the surveillance of journalists through spyware in this text.  Some of us, and many of our colleagues across Europe and the world, have…

EFJ Director Renate Schroeder wrote about the European Media Freedom Act in an article originally published in Social Europe. Read the article in its entirety here:  Amid a sea of online misinformation, in a ‘polycrisis’ world reliable public-interest journalism has never been more essential. Today, the sustainability of free media is threatened in many European Union countries. Pluralism is lacking, with the rise of the platforms to information monopolies accelerating the shrinkage of the space for independent and public-interest journalism. Media are increasingly captured and controlled by politicians—or subjected to ‘fake news’ smears in the style of the former United…

The results of the 2023 Media Pluralism Monitor (MPM), which have just been published, confirm the decline in media pluralism in Europe. Of the 32 countries analysed (the 27 EU Member States and the five candidate countries), barely seven present a satisfactory situation. For the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), this new study confirms the urgent need to considerably strengthen the provisions of the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA), which is currently being examined by the European Parliament. “This scientific study is a real setback for European governments, who have just watered down the EMFA when the evidence shows that…

Together with 79 journalists and press freedom, civil society, trade unions, digital rights, publishers and broadcasters organisations, the European Federation of Journalists has sent an open letter today to all members of the European Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee (LIBE), which is discussing the amendments to Article 4 on protection of sources and use of spyware against journalists of the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA). While the European Media Freedom Act represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to safeguard the rights of journalists, the letter says, the recently-adopted Council’s general approach permits the deployment of “intrusive surveillance software” against media service providers on broad national security…

EU governments want to authorise the spying of journalists and their sources on vague grounds of “national security”. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) strongly rejects the position of the EU Council on the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) and denounces a blow to media freedom, arguing that such legislation would put journalists and their sources even more at risk. The Council reached today, 21 June 2023, an agreement on the much-needed European Media Freedom Act, a legislation proposed by the European Commission on 16 September 2022 with the intention to introduce safeguards against political interference, media concentration, and to…