The European Court of Human Rights condemned Bulgaria for the 2016 extradition of a Turkish journalist, hastily handed over to the Turkish authorities who accused him of being part of the Fehtullah Gülen movement, in violation of national and international rules
The Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) expresses deep concern about the future impartiality and independence of Albania’s Audiovisual Media Authority (AMA) following the election of a close associate of the ruling Socialist Party to head the media regulator
The CASE coalition of which OBCT is part has received the text that will be presented to the European Parliament next Monday: a commitment to defend the rule of law and public participation, which collects many suggestions and proposals from civil society organisations
The European legal framework on personal data protection is constantly evolving and the issue of citizens’ privacy is increasingly central to the public debate. Journalists must move confidently in this area, to ensure that people’s fundamental rights are respected while fulfilling their reporting role
Thirty years after its foundation, the future of the Slovenian News Agency is at risk. Janez Jansa's government has blocked state funding pending the delivery of a number of documents. For the agency, however, the request is an undue political interference
In the recent electoral campaign for the political elections, the staff of the main political parties created their own editorial products, which were then often transmitted and published as they were, without journalistic mediation. Propaganda defeated information
Nicolas Kayser-Bril, data journalist at Algorithm Watch, coordinated AW-EDJNet’s joint investigation on Instagram’s algorithm . In this video, he explains why the subject matters and how it could be approached, despite the lack of transparency of the algorithm. Data suggests that Instagram has a bias in favour of pictures of scantily clothed men or women – this has an impact both on creators’ business and on users’ views.
The media situation in Serbia continues to deteriorate, as illustrated by the recent withdrawal of five journalists’ and media associations from the Working group on safety and protection of journalists, set up by the government last December. Repeated attacks against KRIK journalists were the straw that broke the camel’s back
For the second time, Croatian public television HRT fires journalist Hrvoje Zovko, a defender of media freedom for many years. The employer cites a breach of contract, Zovko's lawyer Vanja Juric the desire to punish him for his trade union activity
The director of the N1 television station and the editor-in-chief of the television portal have been sued with a request for one million Euros in compensation by Telenor, which is becoming increasingly aggressive towards United Media – a company that owns some Serbian media including N1
The Balkan Investigative Reporting Network and ERSTE Foundation inform that the Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence is opening its 2021 call for applications
In recent years, migrations have been widely covered by the European media, often in controversial terms. With the outbreak of the pandemic, the situation has changed dramatically, but not for the better. An analysis
The Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) announces the first MFRR Summit, taking place online between 17th and 20th March. Locked Down: Protecting Europe’s Free Press will feature keynote speeches by Irene Khan and Věra Jourová, and bring together 32 journalists and experts from 16 countries to explore the threats facing media freedom in Europe across eight panels and two workshops
Time till 4 March to sign the statement in which the undersigned groups, representing a range of different public watchdogs (including journalists, activists, NGOs, lawyers, trade unions and whistleblowers), call on the Council of Europe (CoE) to act on the growing threat of Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs)
Ukraine has gained some positions in the global ranking of media freedom – sadly, only because of demerits of others, as the situation in the country shows no improvements
An agreement between Telekom and the Telenor company threatens to completely alter the media market in Serbia. Telekom – with public money and agreements with other groups – threatens to become the dominant actor in Serbian media landscape, penalising media critical towards the government
MFRR partners share their concerns over the 4th February decision by a court in Budapest to reject the temporary license extension to Klubrádió in Hungary, warning it will have far-reaching implications for what remains of media pluralism and independent journalism in the country
The partners of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) express serious concern over the €10 million euro lawsuit launched against Italian news magazine L’Espresso by a former Vatican Cardinal over its reporting on his alleged involvement in a corruption scandal involving the use of Holy See funds
The Steering Committee of the BH Journalists Association and the Free Media Help Line strongly condemn the threats made by Adnan Čakalović, senior expert associate of the Sector for Refugees and Displaced Persons at the Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees of BiH, to Zinaida Đelilović, journalist of the online magazine Žurnal
There are two main discourses about Syrian refugees in Turkey's media: they are depicted either as "guests to help" - thus implicating moral superiority over Europe - or as a "threat", highlighting their otherness from the country's socio-cultural identity. Either way, disinformation is everywhere
After receiving death threats, editor-in-chief of Nezavisne novine Sandra Gojković-Arbutina is worried that the state will again fail to identify and sanction the perpetrator
A swirl of new acts and strategies has been announced in the last couple of weeks by the European Commission, including the European Democracy Action Plan, the Digital Markets Act, and the EU’s Cybersecurity Strategy. If we ask the right questions about foreign interference, these are all part of the answer
In recent years, Russia has been increasingly present in the West's hearts, minds, and debates, including in cultural production. Here we talk about three famous television series that brought the theme of Russian interference in the political life of Western countries onto the small screen
With the growing concerns about disinformation activities by Russia and China, the EU and - to varying degress - individual countries have shown increasing interest and initiative in the area of propaganda and strategic communication
A video conceived and directed by Désirée Klain, representative of the journalists association Articolo21 for the region Campania, with the collaboration to the script by Paola Rosà of OBCT. It is meant as a tool of understanding, dissemination, awareness raising
In Italy, similarly to other European countries, there is basically no structured initiative aimed at increasing the cybersecurity of the key actors of our democratic system. New measures are needed that do not entail increasing dependence on a small number of tech companies: cybersecurity in politics cannot exist independently of politics
The international anti-SLAPP coalition invested time and funds to draft a model directive that would help tackle the issue of vexatious lawsuits: now this paper will be presented to EU institutions and stakeholders, and could serve as a pattern for the promised EU initiatives against SLAPPs
For the platform Mapping Media Freedom, the Italian journalist Nello Scavo recalls his story and accuses the Italian government of non answering too many questions: "the silence that comes from unanswered questions was intended to discredit the work of journalists"
