EU under pressure to defend journalists against abusive lawsuits
Brussels, October 11, 2023—As the European Union negotiates a landmark law to prevent the powerful and wealthy using malicious litigation to silence the media, the Committee to Protect Journalists on Wednesday called on the bloc to ensure that proposed legislation is robust and ambitious enough to protect the press. On Monday, the European Parliament and…
Press freedom groups find Greek authorities failed to investigate journalist murders
Impunity in the cases of Sokratis Giolias and Giorgios Karaivaz underscores decline in media freedom in Greece Athens, September 29, 2023—A pattern of inaction and inadequate investigation from Greek authorities in the 2010 murder of Greek journalist Sokratis Giolias was revealed in an investigation published today by press freedom groups Free Press Unlimited, the Committee…
Journalists call on European Parliament to ban spyware
Some 500 journalists have called on members of the European Parliament since September 14 to introduce an absolute ban on surveillance of the press through spyware in the upcoming European Media Freedom Act. Spyware, which secretly takes over electronic devices without being detected, puts journalists around the world at risk of increased harassment and violence and…
CPJ joins call for EU to safeguard against undue state influence on media
The Committee to Protect Journalists and 14 other civil society groups on Thursday urged the European Parliament to protect the press against undue state influence by ensuring that member countries provide advertising revenue to national media in a fair and transparent way. The call comes as the European Parliament is concluding its internal negotiations over…
CPJ joins statement urging EU states to reject mass surveillance proposal
The Committee to Protect Journalists joined more than 80 other digital and human rights groups in a joint statement on Wednesday, September 13, 2023, urging European Union countries to reject the bloc’s draft Child Sexual Abuse Regulation as it could violate hundreds of millions of people’s privacy rights. The proposal could force companies to scan…
In Georgia, poetry, a prison visit, and a pardon for Nika Gvaramia
On the road to Rustavi Prison #12, where the only journalist jailed in Georgia is still serving out his 3.5-year sentence, Sofia Liluashvili is speaking to me about poetry. Liluashvili is the wife of Georgian journalist Nika Gvaramia, who spent more than a year behind bars before a pardon by President Salome Zurabishvili led to…
EU progress on press freedom mired in contradictions, CPJ report finds
European Union media reforms hang in the balance ahead of critical 2024 elections New York, April 25—The European Union (EU) is inconsistent in delivering on its own commitments to press freedom, according to a special report published Tuesday by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). “Fragile Progress: The struggle for press freedom in the European Union”finds…
CPJ, partners send recommendations to European Commission ahead of rule of law report
CPJ on Wednesday, February 22, joined 33 partner organizations in a statement to the European Commission about its rule of law report, which assesses on an annual basis the media freedom environment in the member states of the EU. The statement makes concrete recommendations in advance of this year’s report, which will be published in…
CPJ joins civil society letter calling on the European Parliament to support the European Media Freedom Act
The Committee to Protect Journalists and 43 civil society organizations on Thursday, February 9, wrote to the European Parliament to ask them to ensure that the upcoming European Media Freedom Act is as strong as possible. The draft EU law is seeking to strengthen media freedom and pluralism in EU member states. The text of…