In a landmark decision on 22 November 2022, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that the EU anti-money laundering directive’s provisions on access to beneficial ownership registers are “invalid”. The court found that the directive (AMLD5, 2018) interferes with the privacy and personal data protection rights of beneficial owners and should therefore not be made available to a wide public. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) denounced a decision restricting the freedom of information in favour of business interests. The European legislation was adopted in 2015 with the objective to combat money laundering and terrorist financing by…

Italian defamation laws are once again being misused by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to silence and threaten independent journalism in Italy. The undersigned organisations call for the lawsuit against the newspaper Domani to be dropped and for the Italian Parliament to adopt a comprehensive reform of defamation laws in Italy.  In October 2021, the current Prime Minister, at the time member of the Italian Parliament and leader of the far-right party Fratelli d’Italia,  initiated legal action for aggravated criminal defamation against Emiliano Fittipaldi and Stefano Feltri, respectively correspondent and editor of the daily national newspaper Domani. The lawsuit originated from an article that raised…

Twenty-six trade union representatives and journalists from the Balkans region received a 1.5-day training on safety in Zagreb, Croatia, on 22 and 23 November 2022. The practical guidance focused on how to be safer at work and the responsibilities of employers, with a particular focus on the different threats facing journalists. The training was organised prior to the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on 25 November to draw attention to the increasing violence facing female journalists. Neus Vidal from the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) gave a regional overview of the situation. She…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), together with other international media freedom and journalists’ organisations, today outlined their tentative support for reform of the law on Radiotelevizija Slovenija (RTV SLO) and the urgent need to depoliticise the public service media and their oversight bodies amidst continued threats to their independence. The undersigned organisations welcome the initiative of the new coalition government to reduce the influence of politics on the broadcaster’s operations and foster an enabling climate for its public service mission. Events of the last few years at RTV SLO have provided a clear illustration of why such changes are…

SLAPP: Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation. SLAPPs are a form of legal harassment used to intimidate and silence those speaking out in the public interest. They are often used as a tool to suppress information that the plaintiffs don’t want to be brought to light. The plaintiffs are attempting to keep information secret – information that the public has a right to know. Download the PDF:

Blog Post by EDRi (European Digital Rights Association) Shortly before the end of their mandate, the French Presidency of the Council nearly reached a political compromise with the European Parliament on the so-called “e-evidence” proposal. This draft compromise lays down general guidelines to establish a future legal framework enabling national law enforcement to request personal data from private companies located in other Member States of the European Union (EU). However, a few points remain to be agreed upon before the final text can be adopted by the co-legislators. Unfortunately, the direction of the negotiations does not favour the protection of…