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MAPPING MEDIA
FREEDOM
A FOUR-MONTH SNAPSHOT

Monitoring Report

EFJ – IPI – ECPMF | March 2020 - June 2020
Introduction
          Content
                                                                                                                                                    The Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR)          dom in EU Member States and Candidate
                  Introduction.................................................................. 3                                                  launched in March 2020 at a moment of            Countries. It provides legal and practical
                                                                                                                                                    unprecedented instability and uncertain-         support, public advocacy and information
                  Country-by-Country Analysis (IPI)............................ 14
                                                                                                                                                    ty across Europe. The COVID-19 pandemic          to protect journalists and media workers.
                  Bulgaria........................................................................ 14                                               brought with it a new set of challenges for      The MFRR is organised by a consortium led
                  Hungary........................................................................ 15                                                state and non-state entities to ensure the       by the European Centre for Press and Me-
                  Italy............................................................................... 16                                           health, security, rights and economic well       dia Freedom (ECPMF) including ARTICLE
                                                                                                                                                    being of European populations could be pro-      19, the European Federation of Journalists
                  Poland........................................................................... 17                                              tected. As the pandemic spread across the        (EFJ), Free Press Unlimited (FPU), the Insti-
                  Slovenia........................................................................ 18                                               region, national governments and European        tute for Applied Informatics at the Univer-
                  Turkey........................................................................... 19                                              institutions moved to respond in a number        sity of Leipzig (InfAI), International Press
                                                                                                                                                    of predictable and unpredictable ways that       Institute (IPI) and CCI/Osservatorio Balcani
                  Country-by-Country Analysis (EFJ).......................... 20                                                                    continue to highlight the complex interplay      e Caucaso Transeuropa (OBCT). The project
                  France........................................................................... 20                                              of approaches and priorities across the con-     is co-funded by the European Commission.
                  Germany....................................................................... 21                                                 tinent. This requirement to react to such a
                                                                                                                                                    sizable and significant crisis resulted in a     The project’s first four-months of work has
                  Serbia........................................................................... 22                                              plethora of responses, whether through the       seen a wide range of threats against me-
                  Sweden........................................................................ 23                                                 reallocation of funds, legislation changes,      dia freedom, including policy-makers and
                                                                                                                                                    responses to popular movements and even          government officials singling out journalists
                  United Kingdom........................................................... 24
                                                                                                                                                    at times, constitutional amendments that         for harassment, the use of vexatious legal
                  COVID-19 - Response and Impact (IPI)..................... 26                                                                                                                       action to stifle independent scrutiny, or at-
                                                                                                                                                    reconfigured the relationship between the
                  Threats against journalists and media workers                                                                                     state and its people. A result of this is that   tacks on media workers by protesters and
                     at protests and demonstrations (EFJ)................. 30                                                                       the pandemic, while demonstrating a dan-         police officers. The sources of these attacks
                                                                                                                                                    gerous and immediate threat to life across       are as varied as the attacks themselves,
                  Conclusion................................................................... 35
                                                                                                                                                    Europe, has also reaffirmed the importance       with police and state security officials, un-
                                                                                                                                                    of an independent, well-funded and free          known individuals and protesters, politicians
                                                                                                                                                    media to counter disinformation, challenge       and private companies prominent in an ap-
                                                                                                                                                    entrenched power and secrecy and inform          parent shared goal to undermine a free me-
                                                                                                                                                    the public across Europe. But with this in-      dia and limit the public’s right to know. Few
                                                                                                                                                    creased need for media freedom has come          countries are spared, of the 33 countries
                                                                                                                                                    an increase in the number and severity of        the MFRR covers (including EU Member
    Media‌ ‌Freedom‌ ‌Rapid‌ ‌Response‌ ‌(‌MFRR‌) ‌tracks,‌ ‌monitors‌ ‌and‌ ‌responds‌ ‌to‌ ‌violations‌ ‌of‌ ‌press‌ ‌and‌ ‌media‌
                                                                                                                                                    threats facing journalists, outlets and media    States, including the United Kingdom, and
    ‌freedom‌ ‌in‌ ‌EU‌ ‌Member‌ ‌States‌ ‌and‌ ‌Candidate‌ ‌Countries.‌ ‌This‌ ‌project‌ ‌provides‌ ‌legal‌ ‌and‌ ‌practical‌ ‌support,‌
     ‌public‌ ‌advocacy‌ ‌and‌ ‌information‌ ‌to‌ ‌protect‌ ‌journalists‌ ‌and‌ ‌media‌ ‌workers.‌ ‌The‌ ‌MFRR‌ ‌is‌ ‌organised‌ ‌by‌ ‌an‌          workers across EU Member States and Can-         Candidate Countries), two-thirds have had
      ‌consortium‌ ‌led‌ ‌by‌ ‌the‌ ‌European‌ ‌Centre‌ ‌for‌ ‌Press‌ ‌and‌ ‌Media‌ ‌Freedom‌ ‌(ECPMF)‌ ‌with‌ ‌ARTICLE‌ ‌19,‌ ‌the‌ ‌Euro-
                                                                                                                                                    didate Countries.                                at least one violation of media freedom up-
       pean‌ ‌Federation‌ ‌of‌ ‌Journalists‌ ‌(EFJ),‌ ‌Free‌ ‌Press‌ ‌Unlimited‌ ‌(FPU),‌ ‌the‌ ‌Institute‌ ‌for‌ ‌Applied‌ ‌Informatics‌ ‌at‌
       ‌the‌ ‌University‌ ‌of‌ ‌Leipzig‌ ‌(InfAI),‌ ‌International‌ ‌Press‌ ‌Institute‌ ‌(IPI)‌ ‌and‌ ‌CCI/Osservatorio‌ ‌Balcani‌ ‌e‌ ‌Caucaso‌                                                     loaded to Mapping Media Freedom from
        ‌Transeuropa‌ ‌(OBCT).‌ ‌The‌ ‌project‌ ‌is‌ ‌co-funded‌ ‌by‌ ‌the‌ ‌European‌ ‌Commission.‌ ‌‌                            www.mfrr.eu‌‌   The Media Freedom Rapid Response is a            within their borders since the beginning of
                                                                                                                                                    mechanism that tracks, monitors and re-          March 2020.
                                                                                                                                                    sponds to violations of press and media free-

2       Mapping Media Freedom | Monitoring Report                                                                                                                                                    Mapping Media Freedom | Monitoring Report       3
Mapping Media Freedom is a crowd-sourc-           This report compiled by MFRR partners, EFJ    Note: (CC) refers to Candidate Countries
    ing platform that enables anyone to upload        and IPI, with support from the ECPMF, anal-
    details of an attack, threat or media freedom     yses and presents a micro- and macro- lev-    Note: Due to the Transition Period outlined
    violation in real time to help us visualise and   el diagnosis of the health of the European    in the withdrawal agreement, for the MFRR,
    collect information about media freedom           media landscape over a four-month period      the United Kingdom will be treated as an EU
    across Europe. The European Federation of         from March until the end of June 2020, ex-    Member State until 31 December 2020
    Journalists (EFJ) and the International Press     ploring country-specific threats to media
                                                                                                    This allocation will help determine the fo-
    Institute (IPI), with support from the Euro-      freedom, as well as a region-wide com-
                                                                                                    cus of the country-by-country analysis
    pean Centre for Press and Media Freedom           parative analysis of key trends and themes
                                                                                                    outlined in this report. However, due to the
    (ECPMF) form the expert network who veri-         that require robust and concerted action
                                                                                                    geographic spread of threats, as well as
    fies, analyses and publishes all alerts on the    to stem. In terms of monitoring, to manage
                                                                                                    clusters of threats around specific coun-
    platform. These alerts form the basis of this     workload and benefit from their expertise
                                                                                                    tries or regions, the country-by-country
    report, giving a rich qualitative and quantita-   and network reach, the 33 countries cov-
                                                                                                    analysis will highlight a selection of the
    tive data source upon which we can identify       ered by the MFRR are split between IPI and
                                                                                                    above countries based on a number of
    and analyse systemic threats to media free-       EFJ in the following way:
                                                                                                    factors including: frequency and severity
    dom and trends that need to be addressed,
                                                                                                    of threats, threats indicative of a broader
    as well as guiding the MFRR’s legal, practical
                                                                                                    trend (further analysed in a later chapter);
    and advocacy support for journalists and
                                                                                                    specific and egregious cases that require
    media workers across the region.
                                                                                                    analysis, as well as ensuring, where pos-
                                                                                                    sible, geographic spread across the MFRR
                                                                                                    region. For a detailed breakdown of every
                                                                                                    country in the MFRR region, please visit
                                                                                                    www.mappingmediafreedom.org.
                               IPI will monitor       EFJ will monitor
                                                                                                    This report is structured in four sections.
                                          Austria     Latvia
                                                                                                    First we will present a visual representation
                                             Italy    Lithuania
                                                                                                    of different datasets from Mapping Media
                                         Bulgaria     Estonia
                                                                                                    Freedom to present an overall picture of the
                                          Croatia     Belgium
                                                                                                    platform and the broad health of the media
                                          Cyprus      Luxembourg
                                                                                                    environment in EU Member States and Can-
                                           Malta      the Netherlands
                                                                                                    didate Countries. Following this is a coun-
                                  Czech Republic      Denmark
                                                                                                    try-by-country analysis divided between IPI
                                          Poland      Finland
                                                                                                    and EFJ, which includes specific analysis
                                        Portugal      France
                                                                                                    of a selection of countries within the MFRR
                                        Slovakia      Germany
                                                                                                    region. Following this is a Cross Region-
                                        Romania       Sweden
                                                                                                    al Thematic Comparative Analysis, which
                                        Slovenia      United Kingdom
                                                                                                    interrogates trends that affect media and
                                          Greece      Ireland
                                                                                                    press freedom across the entire MFRR re-
                                           Spain      North Macedonia (CC)
                                                                                                    gion, including the COVID-19 pandemic and
                                        Hungary       Montenegro (CC)
                                                                                                    public protests. This is then followed by a
                                    Albania (CC)      Serbia (CC)
                                                                                                    conclusion that brings all analysis together.
                                     Turkey (CC)

4       Mapping Media Freedom | Monitoring Report                                                                                                   Mapping Media Freedom | Monitoring Report   5
MAPPING MEDIA FREEDOM
    A Four-Month Snapshot
                                                                                                   3
         Mapping Media Freedom (MMF) visual-
         ises and collates threats to and violations
         of media and press freedom, while guid-
         ing the Media Freedom Rapid Response
         (MFRR) to provide advocacy, legal and
         practical support to at-risk journalists
         and media workers. This report covers all
         alerts posted to MMF from 1st March to
         30th June 2020 from EU Member States
         and Candidate Countries. Alerts from 23
         countries (two-thirds of the countries
         within the MFRR region) have been up-
         loaded to MMF, with Turkey (16), Ger-
         many (14) and Italy and the UK (both 11
         alerts) demonstrating the highest number                   11                                        4
         of threats. These cover a wide range of
         threats, from physical attacks, legal ac-
         tions or attempts of censorship.
                                                                             2         14
                                                                                                                1
                                                                                                    1           4
                                                                         6                                                       1
87                      48                        19                                                 73
                                                                                                                     10
                                                                                                                    1     6
                                                                                                11                     1
                                                  FREEDOM
                                                   FREEDOM      3                                                    9                                      16
                                                                                                                        7
  PHYSICAL &
PSYCHOLOGICAL
    THREAT
                            LEGAL
                           THREAT
                                                   CENSORSHIP
                                                                                                                                                                 2
                                                                                                      3
                                                                             *As one alert can contain a number of incidents or threats of further action,
6     Mapping Media Freedom | Monitoring Report                               the figures above adds up to more thanMapping
                                                                                                                      the total number
                                                                                                                             Media       of| alerts
                                                                                                                                   Freedom   Monitoring Report   7
TYPE OF INCIDENT                                      March - June 2020                                                                     n   dea
                                                                                                                                                        th         2
                                                                                                                                          i                                 14
                                                                                                                                 ting injury
                                                                                                                       e sul
                                                                                                             aul
                                                                                                                  t  r                g in              ry                  14
                                                                                                         s s                  u ltin              nju
                                                                                             i c  al a           l t  re  s
                                                                                                                                      g    in i                2
                                                                                           s                   u                    n                   oS
                                                                                      Phy                 ssa                 ulti             /DD
                                                                                              i c al a            t   res             i n  g                                14
                                                                                            s                   o                  ck                  ent
                                                                                      Phy                  tn               Ha
                                                                                                    s  aul                                u  ipm
                                                                                          al a
                                                                                                  s
                                                                                                                                 oe
                                                                                                                                      q
                                                                                                                                                      ngs
                                                                                                                                                                   3
                                                                                      sic                                at t                 ngi
                                                                               Phy                                  r e                  l o                           10
                                                                                                              / th                l be                   ty
                                                                                                   t t ack             s ona                r o  per
                                                                                                A
                                                                                                            op
                                                                                                                 e  r
                                                                                                                                 t to
                                                                                                                                        p
                                                                                                                                                        ng                                                                 59
       There is no one way journalists and media                                                   e   at t           h  rea                a  teni
       workers are targeted or attacked across                                            / th
                                                                                                  r
                                                                                                            ck
                                                                                                                 /  t
                                                                                                                                 /th
                                                                                                                                      re
                                                                                                                                                        dit                      17
                                                                                t t ack             A   tta          a  t ion               i s cre
       EU Member States or Candidate Coun-                                     A
                                                                                                             imi
                                                                                                                  d                     D                  e                            26
                                                                                                         Int                                      bus
       tries. There is a range of different types                                                                                     u   l t/a                        9
       of threats faced by media workers. Ac-                                                                                    Ins                llin
                                                                                                                                                          g
                                                                                                                                           /  tro
       cording to our analysis, the most common                                                                                 llyi
                                                                                                                                     n g
                                                                                                                                                       ent
                                                                                                                                                                           12
                                                                                                                         Bu                 s  sm
       type of threat is Intimidation/Threaten-
                                                                                                                                  Ha
                                                                                                                                      r  a
                                                                                                                                                       ent
                                                                                                                                                                             16
       ing (59), followed by Insult/Abuse (26)                                                                                              o  nm
                                                                                                                                   pri
                                                                                                                                        s                  n                14
       and then Discredit and Criminal Charges
                                                                                                                       o n   /im
                                                                                                                                            o  g  atio
                                                                                                                   t i               er  r                             11
       (both 17). However, this is only a partial                                                            ten                Int               sui
                                                                                                                                                         ts
                                                                                                   s  t /de                                a   w
       picture. A media professional, as part of
                                                                                          Arr
                                                                                                 e                                   il l                                       17
                                                                                                                                Civ                   ges
       one threat, may experience a number                                                                                                c   har
                                                                                                                                     a l                   )           10
       of different types of threat at the same                                                                               min                    om
                                                                                                                       Cri                 eed
       time from one or more different actors i.e.
                                                                                                                                dia
                                                                                                                                       f r
                                                                                                                                                       ent
                                                                                                                                                               1
       Physical assault resulting in injury and At-                                                                 s  /me                l o  ym
                                                                                                            pre
                                                                                                                 s
                                                                                                                                 em
                                                                                                                                      p
                                                                                                                                                        on     1
       tack/threat to equipment.
                                                                                                    t i ng             s   of              n  v  icti
                                                                                          str
                                                                                                i c            Lo   s               Co                     n               12
                                                                                    s re                                                      m   atio
                                                                              la w                                                      f a                    1
                                                                         re (                                                      De                    ts
                                                                e asu                                                                        o  utle
                                                            al m                                                                   edi
                                                                                                                                        a
                                                                                                                                                      lets
                                                                                                                                                               1
                                                        Leg                                                             o  fm                out *
                                                                                                              su  r e               a t e                              11
                                                                                                         Clo                  f st                 tion
                                                                                                                       no                   ma
                                                                                                           ans
                                                                                                                  i o
                                                                                                                                  inf o  r                 y   1
                                                                                                                                                    wa
                                                                                                     Exp             s  s to               i ng
                                                                                                            acc
                                                                                                                  e
                                                                                                                                  lea
                                                                                                                                       d
                                                                                                                                                        ce         4
                                                                                                    k  ed             a  mis                f e ren
                                                                                          Blo
                                                                                                  c
                                                                                                           ed
                                                                                                                in
                                                                                                                               l in
                                                                                                                                    te   r
                                                                                                                                                      on
                                                                                                                                                          **       4
                                                                                                      a  m                 i a                 a  t i
                                                                                              s fr                     rc             istr
                                                                                         wa                     me              reg                        n   1
                                                                                  o r k                 C om              o  r                m   atio
                                                                              /w                                      n                    r
                                                                        icle                                tat
                                                                                                                 io                info
                                                                  Art                                 r edi                 Dis
                                                                                                   c
                                                                                           f ac
                                                                                  n i al o
                                                                                e
                                                                           yd
                                                                   i t rar
                                                               Arb
                                                                                                                                                                                      * e.g. blocked websites or no answers to enquiries
8   Mapping Media Freedom | Monitoring Report                                                                                                                                                    Mapping Media Freedom | Monitoring Report 9
                                                                                                                                                                                      **incl. blocked  access to events or press conferences
SOURCE OF INCIDENT                                                 March - June 2020

                                                 §
         POLICE /                           LEGISLATION                  JUDICIARY             POLITICAL             CORPORATION /                    PUBLIC
      STATE SECURITY                                                                            PARTY                  COMPANY                      AUTHORITIES

         27                                 25                            9                     9                       8                               6

                                                                                                            ?
                            PRIVATE                         CRIMINAL                 ANOTHER               UNKNOWN                    OTHER
                         INDIVIDUAL(S)                    ORGANISATION                MEDIA                 SOURCE                   SOURCE

                          42                                 7                       4                     20                         2
10   Mapping Media Freedom | Monitoring Report                                                                                  Mapping Media Freedom | Monitoring Report   11
TYPE OF MEDIA ACTOR                                                        March - June 2020
                 102

                             32
                                                                                     CONTEXT OF INCIDENT                                                     March - June 2020
                                       24

                                                         10
                                                     7
                                                                      3                               In the office/at work                                      16
                                                               1
                                                                                                During a press conference          4
                                                               er
                                                               er
                                                                r

                                                               er

                                                                 t

                                                                r
                                                               or

                                                                                                   During a demonstration                                                          24
                                                             lis
                                                            ito

                                                             to

                                                           ix

                                                         ow
                                                          st

                                                          at

                                                        ac
                                                        na
                                                       ed

                                                        /f
                                                      ca

                                                       er

                                                      bl
                                                     or
                                                    ur

                                                    ia
           t/

                                                  op
                                                  ad

                                                                                                        Public place/street                                                      23
                                                   le
                                                  at
                                                 jo
         lis

                                                ed

                                                st
                                                o

                                               sl
                                              ra
       na

                                             en

                                              m
                                             br

                                             hi
                                           an
                                            e

                                           t/
     ur

                                          r/

                                         tiz

                                          W

                                                                                                    In private environment
                                       am

                                                                                                                                                        11
                                        Tr
                                       lis
             ne
 Jo

                                        i
                                     /c
                                    /c

                                   na
          ow

                                  er
                                  er

                                 ur

                                                                                                             Online/digital                                                            25
                               gg
                  ph
       ia

                              jo
     ed

                            lo
                ra

                          of
                          B
               g
     M

                                                                                                                  Via letter                   7
                       pe
            to
            o

                    ty
         Ph

                                                                   During an event (like an exhibition or religious events)    2
                 er
              th
            O

                                                                                                                   At court                        10
                                                                                                             At parliament             5
                                                                                                      At public authorities        4
                                                                                       via public announcement/TV/news                     6
                                                          At police station (or other police environment like in police car)                       10

12       Mapping Media Freedom | Monitoring Report                                                                                         Mapping Media Freedom | Monitoring Report    13
COUNTRY-BY-COUNTRY ANALYSIS                                                                          Hungary
                                                                                                          Number of Mapping Media Freedom alerts within reporting period: 4
     (IPI)                                                                                                Of all countries in Europe, the COVID-19       The Hungarian response to the pandemic
                                                                                                          crisis had arguably the biggest effect on      and its impact on media freedom did not
     Bulgaria                                                                                             media freedom in Hungary. Existing chal-       stop at the country’s national borders. Dur-
     Number of Mapping Media Freedom alerts within reporting period: 6                                    lenges were exacerbated and new issues         ing the crisis, media outlets across Europe
                                                                                                          emerged as the government of Prime             and the US were approached by Hungarian
     Between March and June 2020, MFRR part-           ian journalists. On 17 March, Bulgarian news-      Minister, Viktor Orbán pursued tighter in-     ambassadors based in their countries and
     ners monitored several concerning physical        paper editor, Slavi Angelov was left uncon-        formation control and intensified its now      other state officials calling on them to apol-
     attacks and legal threats against journalists     scious in the street after being attacked by       decade-long campaign to discredit and          ogise for their critical coverage of the coun-
     in Bulgaria, where the situation for the safe-    masked men armed with metal pipes outside          undermine critical journalism. In the back-    try’s response to COVID-19.
     ty of journalists remains problematic under       his home in the capital city, Sofia. The coun-     ground, meanwhile, new criminal legis-
     the government of Prime Minister, Boyko           try’s Interior Ministry confirmed the beating      lation against the spreading of “false” or     Meanwhile, in another blow to media plu-
     Borisov and his ruling GERB party. Judicial       was “related to his work”. Both IPI and EFJ        “distorted” information, passed during the     ralism in Hungary, on 25 June the country’s
     threats and attacks against members of in-        produced statements calling on authorities in      state of emergency, caused uncertainty         Constitutional Court ruled that a govern-
     dependent media outlets have also contin-         the Bulgarian capital, Sofia to ensure a quick     and self-censorship among media outlets        ment decree which prevented the Compe-
     ued during this period. In a country where        and transparent investigation was conduct-         and actors. To make matters worse, inde-       tition Authority from examining the legality
     corruption and collusion between the me-          ed to identify those responsible. On 23 April,     pendent media in Hungary already face a        of the merger of over 470 media outlets that
     dia, politicians and oligarchs is widespread,     three people were arrested and charged with        precarious financial situation, a result not   created the pro-government media con-
     investigative journalists probing alleged         the attack.                                        only of the lockdown but also of years of      glomerate, KESMA was legal.
     corruption face a particularly challenging                                                           state-led market manipulation that has
     climate.                                          On 18 June, investigative journalist, Nikolay                                                     During this time, MFRR partners produced
                                                       Staykov began receiving threatening phone          starved critical media of advertising reve-
                                                                                                                                                         several individual advocacy responses to
     As part of its COVID-19 state of emergen-         calls as part of what he called a “coordinat-      nue while propping up a pro-government
                                                                                                                                                         different threats to the media in Hungary.
     cy decree in March 2020, the government           ed” campaign of harassment he believes was         media empire.
                                                                                                                                                         IPI raised repeated concerns about the draft
     sought to amend the penal code and intro-         linked to an ongoing investigative documen-        The COVID-19 pandemic has also given           “fake news” laws, hosted two separate we-
     duce prison sentences for spreading what          tary about alleged state corruption. On 20         cover for attacks against journalists, me-     binars with Hungarian journalists and media
     it deemed “fake news” about the outbreak          May, another investigative journalist, Dimiter     dia workers and press cartoonists. The         experts, and produced an in-depth report
     with up to three years in prison or a fine of     Petzov, was arrested on charges of illegal         Hungarian far-right political party, Our       about the effect of the pandemic on inde-
     up to €5,000. That part of the emergency          drug possession. Petzov has questioned the         Home Movement and the ruling Christian         pendent media. EFJ meanwhile also hosted
     bill was quickly vetoed by the President, Ru-     legitimacy of his arrest and accused the lo-       Democratic People’s Party (KDNP) also          a webinar on the topics and issued several
     men Radek. However, the IMRO, a Bulgari-          cal authorities of framing him. Meanwhile, Ivo     announced that they would sue cartoonist       statements on emergency powers, new edi-
     an nationalist party, submitted another bill      Prokopiev, one of Bulgaria’s biggest newspa-       Gábor Pápai for alleged blasphemy due to       torial rules, and growing pressure on the in-
     to parliament on 19 March which, if passed,       per publishers and owner of the Economedia         a cartoon representing the Chief Medical       dependent Index.hu website. As part of the
     would hand authorities greater powers to          group, faced criminal charges in a fraud case      Officer at the National Centre for Public      MFRR, ECPMF commissioned and published
     suspend websites for disseminating “inter-        which press and media freedom organisa-            Health and member of the Government’s          an expert legal opinion, available in English
     net misinformation.                               tions warned may have been a politically mo-       “Coronavirus Task Force”, Cecília Müller       and Hungarian, about the government’s legal
                                                       tivated attempt to silence his outlet’s critical   facing Jesus Christ as he is crucified on      response to the pandemic and how it threat-
     Recent months have seen several incidents of      reporting on the government. On 28 June,                                                          ens the already-fragile state of media free-
     intimidation or violent attacks against Bulgar-                                                      the cross saying “…His underlying condi-
                                                       Prokopiev was eventually acquitted.                tion caused dependence.”                       dom in Hungary.

14       Mapping Media Freedom | Monitoring Report                                                                                                       Mapping Media Freedom | Monitoring Report        15
Italy                                                                                                  Poland
     Number of Mapping Media Freedom alerts within reporting period: 11                                     Number of Mapping Media Freedom alerts within reporting period: 4
     In the reporting period, an alarming num-           mafia groups on the property of journalists        The press and media freedom situation in         for punishment of photojournalist Wojciech
     ber of physical attacks and threats of vio-         in southern regions. In March, Carlo Verdelli,     Poland remains concerning. With COVID-19         Jakub Atys was submitted to a court by the
     lence were documented in Italy. Attacks and         chief editor of one of Italy’s most respected      and a postponed presidential election dom-       Warsaw Żoliborz Police Station for alleged-
     death threats from organised crime and ma-          newspapers, La Repubblica, was placed un-          inating headlines, domestic and foreign          ly breaking lockdown measures. In March,
     fia groups remained common. Far right pro-          der police protection after receiving repeat-      media were publicly attacked by members          Gazeta Wyborcza journalist Katarzyna
     tests led to violence against journalists and       ed threats from neo-Nazi groups. On other          of the administration, while the one-sid-        Wlodkowska was also warned that articles
     media workers covering demonstrations,              occasions, the threats came from foreign           ed, pro-government reporting of the public       she published about the investigation of the
     while high tensions during the COVID-19             government officials. In April, the spokesman      broadcaster TVP underscored yet again the        2019 murder of Pawel Adamowicz, the may-
     pandemic led to isolated attacks against            of Russia’s Defence Ministry sparked a press       loss of its independence. In the background,     or of Gdansk, were not legal. In a separate
     journalists by members of the public. In the        freedom row after he publicly criticized           leading critical outlets faced sustained le-     legal case, on 14 April journalists Wojciech
     background meanwhile, Italy’s outdated              Italian newspaper, La Stampa and issued a          gal harassment by the ruling party and its       Cieśla and Julia Dauksza were sued by Pol-
     criminal defamation laws continued to pose          veiled threat against its reporter over an arti-   affiliates, while the issue of Strategic Law-    ish clothing company LPP over an article
     a serious pitfall for media outlets and jour-       cle about COVID-19 aid. In June, Neville Gafà,     suits Against Public Participation (SLAPP)       they published online in Newsweek Poland
     nalists alike.                                      a former director in the office of the Maltese     remains a constant threat.                       about the company’s policies on the distri-
                                                         Prime Minister, issued a threat against well-                                                       bution of protective COVD-19 masks. The
     Many of the cases the MFRR documented               known Italian journalist Nello Scavo on social     At the end of June, the MFRR reported that       company also sued Newsweek editor Alek-
     in Italy during this period were directly con-      media, tweeting: “stop your dirty business. If     Poland’s second-biggest daily newspaper,         sandra Karasińska and the magazine’s pub-
     nected to journalists’ reporting on the COV-        not, we will be stopping you.”                     Gazeta Wyborcza, had received over 55            lisher, Ringier Axel Springer Polska.
     ID-19 situation. On 23 March, a journalist and                                                         legal threats as a result of its work since
     a camera operator working for the Livorno           To address these threats, members of the           2015. These cases include civil defamation       Meanwhile, comments made by Jarosław
     edition of Il Tirreno newspaper were insulted       MFRR organised a virtual fact-finding mis-         actions and alleged infringement of person-      Kaczyński, leader of the ruling Law and Jus-
     and threatened while reporting on life under        sion to speak with Italian journalists and         al interests by several actors both within       tice (PiS) party, following July’s presidential
     COVID-19 measures. Days later, a photojour-         media associations. From this meeting, the         and linked to the government. A number of        election, suggest that PiS may again seek a
     nalist working for La Stampa was harassed           MFRR decided to urge the country’s Consti-         these actions target the newspaper itself,       so-called “repolonisation“ of the Polish me-
     and had his SD card stolen while document-          tutional Court to abolish prison sentences         the paper’s publisher, the editor-in-chief       dia landscape, after foreign-owned media
     ing a COVID-19 protest in Turin. La Repub-          as one crucial step towards reforming Italy’s      of wyborcza.pl, and a number of individual       in Poland published articles critical of PiS-
     blica journalist Salvo Palazzolo faced persis-      defamation laws, as well as call for an over-      journalists. At the height of the COVID-19       backed candidate, Andrzej Duda. The com-
     tent threats after writing an article about the     haul of the country’s civil defamation laws        lockdown, two media workers for the news-        ments raise fears that Poland may seek to
     mafia using the COVID-19 crisis to increase         to protect journalists from abusive litigation     paper also faced action from police. On 8        follow in Hungary’s footsteps, after Viktor
     its influence in certain districts of Palermo. In   and SLAPPs. In a major step forward for            May, Paweł Rutkiewicz, a Gazeta Wyborcza         Orban’s regime successfully drove out for-
     other instances, journalists were threatened        press and media freedom, the Court ruled           reporter in Warsaw, was arrested by police       eign media owners in the country, replacing
     and physically attacked by local business           in favour of ultimately scrapping prison sen-      for allegedly breaking social distancing rules   them with pro-government cronies before
     owners, threatened by mafia groups in Na-           tences for criminal defamation, giving the         while covering an anti-lockdown demon-           amassing them into the KESMA govern-
     ples, or caught up in protests and attacked         Parliament until June 2021 to pass neces-          stration in the city. Separately, a petition     ment-controlled conglomerate.
     by members of extreme far right groups. In          sary reforms. If they miss this deadline the
     April, the MFRR also documented two sepa-           court will themselves rule to abolish prison
     rate arson attacks carried out by suspected         sentences for criminal defamation.

16       Mapping Media Freedom | Monitoring Report                                                                                                           Mapping Media Freedom | Monitoring Report         17
Slovenia                                                                                            Turkey
     Number of Mapping Media Freedom alerts within reporting period: 7                                   Number of Mapping Media Freedom alerts within reporting period: 16
     During the last four months, MFRR partners       to her containing a threatening handwritten        Between March and the end of June 2020,          During this time, Turkish authorities contin-
     observed a clear deterioration in press and      note. On 31 March, a TV crew from RTVS             Turkey registered the highest number of          ued to use media regulators to shut down
     media freedom under the new coalition gov-       was verbally abused and threatened by an           alerts on Mapping Media Freedom. Nearly          outlets broadcasting critical or sensitive
     ernment led by the Slovenian Democratic          unidentified individual as they were report-       100 journalists remain behind bars as part of    topics. In April, the Radio and Television
     Party (SDS) under Prime Minister, Janez          ing on the COVID-19 lockdown. In addition          a widespread repression of the media that        High Council (RTÜK) issued three different
     Janša. The central element here has been         to public comments, Janša’s SDS party has          began following the 2016 attempted coup          broadcast bans against Fox TV over an an-
     a concerted attempt by members of the            also moved to exert greater influence over         and this has only widened since. During the      chor’s critical comments on the state’s COV-
     new administration, which entered office         RTVS’s executive bodies. In late June, the         COVID-19 pandemic, the government of the         ID-19 policies. The same month, RTÜK also
     in March 2020, to undermine and discredit        Slovenian Ministry of Culture prepared to          Justice and Development Party (AKP) led by       banned and blocked broadcasting within
     the work of the public broadcaster, Radio-       publish proposed changes to the RTVS Act,          Recep Tayyip Erdoğan used the health crisis      Turkey of Diyalog TV, a channel established
     televizija Slovenija (RTVS).                     the Audiovisual Media Services Act, and the        to further crack down on dissent and critical    and based in Northern Cyprus. Turkish
                                                      Slovenian Press Agency Act. If approved,           voices. Meanwhile, journalists in Turkey con-    newspaper Evrensel was later given a 45-
     Soon after entering office, the Prime Minister   the amendments would financially weaken            tinued to be targeted and detained for their     day advertising ban by the Turkish Public
     took to social media to publicly accuse the      the public broadcaster and allow far greater       reporting and continue to face violations of     Advertising Agency (BİK) over a column it
     public broadcaster of spreading lies about       government control over the management             their rights in court.                           published – a record length for a public ad
     the government and issued a veiled threat        of public service media.                                                                            ban on a newspaper so far in Turkey.
     over its funding. Weeks later, the govern-                                                          On 25 March, journalist Tugay Can of lo-
     ment’s official website published a statement    Throughout this period, MFRR partners              cal news outlet İz Gazete was accused of         The same month, Odatv Ankara bureau
     signed by the Prime Minister entitled “war       have responded with numerous individual            “creating fear and panic amongst the pub-        news editor, Müyesser Yıldız and Anka-
     with the media”, calling the press no longer     and joint statements. As part of the MFRR,         lic” over an article reporting health workers’   ra correspondent of TELE1, İsmail Dükel
     a force for good. This confrontation with the    IPI raised concerns about the growing hos-         COVID-19 positive tests in two districts in      were taken into police custody during early
     public service media continued on 8 June,        tility that has led to attacks on journalists in   İzmir. Two other journalists, Mustafa Ahmet      morning raids on their homes on allegations
     when the prime minister accused the broad-       Slovenia and later called on the government        Oktay and Eren Sarıkaya from Bartın-based        of “military espionage”. Journalist Metin
     caster, again on social media of trying to       and Janša to lead the way in reducing in-          Halk Newspaper and Pusula Newspaper,             Uca was also sentenced to 14 months and
     “overthrow” his government. Interior Minis-      sults and threats. EFJ also condemned the          were taken into custody over similar reports     17 days in prison for “insulting a public of-
     ter Aleš Hojs called for journalists and media   “war with the media” article on the gov-           published about the spread of the virus.         ficer on duty” in a tweet he posted about
     professionals who reported from the scene        ernment website. The MFRR partners also            Mezopotamya News Agency (MA) corre-              an election result forecast. Other journalists
     of anti-lockdown protests to face criminal       signed a joint letter to European leaders          spondent Ahmet Kanbal was also accused           were threatened with arrest and accused
     prosecution. Investigative journalist, Blaž      raising concerns about the death threats re-       of “inciting hatred and enmity” in a news        by top government officials of having “ter-
     Žgaga was also targeted with hate speech         ceived by respected investigative journalist,      report about COVID-19 safety measures in         rorist sympathies” and arrested for “inciting
     and death threats after raising a freedom of     Blaž Žgaga.                                        a hospital. Other journalists were called to     hatred” for mocking President Erdogan on
     information request about the emergency                                                             testify over social media posts reporting        social media. On 8 March, journalist Zeynep
     powers taken by the government.                                                                     on the spread of the virus. Kurdish jour-        Yağmur Kaya was detained while she tried
                                                                                                         nalist Nurcan Baysal was also summoned           to document a crackdown by police on a
     These vocal attacks have also been fol-                                                             to the police station over articles in which     banned feminist march in Istanbul. A day
     lowed by physical threats against jour-                                                             she questioned the government’s response         later, Turkey formally requested the extradi-
     nalists. On 1 June, Eugenija Carl, an RTVS                                                          to the COVID-19 pandemic in cities in the        tion of Turkish journalist Levent Kenez from
     journalist, received an envelope addressed                                                          Kurdish-majority southeast.                      Sweden (see later analysis of Sweden).

18       Mapping Media Freedom | Monitoring Report                                                                                                        Mapping Media Freedom | Monitoring Report        19
Despite calls from IPI and other press and        announced the release on parole of up to         Rebellion activists for “obstructing air traf-    or publishing images in the media.” As de-
     media freedom groups, Turkey refused to           100,000 prisoners, but excluded political        fic” while he covered the protest at Orly Air-    bate about the accountability of police of-
     release the nearly 100 journalists it con-        prisoners and journalists.                       port for Reporterre. After being questioned       ficers and security services spread across
     tinues to hold in prison despite the health                                                        twice by the Orly and Pontoise police, he         the globe, sparked by the murder of George
     risk posed by COVID-19 in spaces like                                                              was finally released 10 hours later but he        Floyd by police officers in the US, this piece
     jails. Worse still, the Turkish Government                                                         remains under suspicion. When reporting           of legislation would instead frustrate calls
                                                                                                        on protests cannot be restricted as directly      for greater transparency and accountabil-
                                                                                                        as an arrest, the legislative have, through a     ity, while severely hindering the ability of
                                                                                                        proposed bill, attempted to establish a re-       journalists and media workers to scrutinise

     COUNTRY-BY-COUNTRY ANALYSIS                                                                        quirement for all media outlets and profes-
                                                                                                        sionals to make “law enforcement agency
                                                                                                                                                          the behaviour of police officers, gendarmes,
                                                                                                                                                          soldiers or customs officials.
     (EFJ)                                                                                              personnel unidentifiable when broadcasting

     France                                                                                             Germany
     Number of Mapping Media Freedom alerts within reporting period: 6                                  Number of Mapping Media Freedom alerts within reporting period: 14
     A significant number of the threats for jour-     stolen. When her phone was returned, all of      In the reporting period which runs from           gard for the profession and an assumption
     nalists and media workers in France follow        her photos and videos of the protests had        March to the end of June 2020, Germany            towards political biases. In the space of
     a number of Europe-wide trends, such as           been deleted.                                    is the EU Member State with the highest           eight days, between 1 May and 9 May 2020,
     the expansion of the use of Strategic Law-                                                         number of Mapping Media Freedom alerts.           four separate attacks on journalists and me-
     suits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs)       Threats of this manner increased when on
                                                                                                        While this may be due to the strength of the      dia workers in Berlin and Dortmund were re-
     to restrict media freedom, as seen with the       15 June, three journalists working for France
                                                                                                        MFRR’s networks in this country this clear-       corded. This included two attacks at a May
     threats of legal action brought against jour-     3 Bourgogne on the outskirts of Dijon were
                                                                                                        ly represents a deterioration of press and        Day protest in Berlin, where a camera crew
     nalist, Inès Léraud by the agro-giant, the        attacked by a group of fifteen individuals af-
                                                                                                        media freedom that requires further moni-         and bodyguard of the ZDF satirical news
     Chéritel group, as well as threats emerging       ter retreating to their car when threatened
                                                                                                        toring and analysis. Since the start of 2020,     show, “heute show” were attacked, which
     from protests or demonstrations. In terms         by men on a scooter holding what looked
                                                                                                        Germany has been the venue of a number            resulted in four individuals requiring hospi-
     of covering protests, as has been seen in         “like a kalashnikov”. The group surrounded
                                                                                                        of public protest movements, covering many        talisation, as well as another case where an
     other countries in the region (see thematic       the journalists’ car and proceeded to attack
                                                                                                        different political ideologies or focal issues,   employee of a television crew was allegedly
     analysis below), the source of threats is split   it with baseball bats and bottles leaving one
                                                                                                        including those organised by far-right and        punched by a police officer. On 6 and 9 May
     between unknown individuals participating         of the journalists injured from broken glass.
                                                                                                        extremist organisations. Out of the 14 alerts,    at two anti-lockdown protests in Berlin and
     in the protests and different state bodies,                                                        seven of them took place during protests,         Dortmund, an ARD camera team was at-
                                                       Threats at protests do not come from pro-
     including, in the case of France, police of-                                                       eight refer to physical or verbal threats, and    tacked in front of the Reichstag building and
                                                       testors alone. Covering a healthcare work-
     ficers and the legislature.                                                                        four to legal threats and harassment. Right-      a journalist working for WDR was attacked
                                                       ers’ protest in Paris for Line Presse, Stéph-
                                                       anie Roy required hospitalisation for an         wing extremists are the source of the threats     by right-wing protesters in Dortmund. At-
     On 17 May, while covering a demonstration
                                                       injury sustained when a grenade was fired        in four cases since the start of March.           tacks against journalists and media workers
     organised by La Ligue du Midi, a right-wing
                                                       into her legs by police officers. The ability                                                      continued throughout the monitoring period,
     extremist group in Montpellier, freelance                                                          What is most evident from the alerts upload-
                                                       to identify or differentiate journalists from                                                      including defamatory insults being hurled at
     journalist Ysis Pecq working for Agence                                                            ed on the Mapping Media Freedom platform
                                                       protestors is a recurring threat in a number                                                       MDR journalists in Leipzig and the assault of
     France Presse (AFP) was first obstructed                                                           is the hostility expressed towards journalists
                                                       of alerts from France. Journalist Alexandre                                                        two Welt journalists in Göttingen who were
     from doing her job before having her phone                                                         and media workers which reveals a low re-
                                                       Reza Kokabi was arrested with 28 Extinction                                                        preparing for a live broadcast.

20       Mapping Media Freedom | Monitoring Report                                                                                                        Mapping Media Freedom | Monitoring Report        21
Further to the threats connected to pro-            to damage their equipment and prevent              Tension grew further as the month of June        for investigations about criminal groups’
     tests, there emerged a continued threat of          their coverage of the high-profile court case      was marked by the parliamentary elections        connection to the police and politicians in
     far right extremism targeting or intimidating       in Berlin.                                         that were initially planned in April. MFRR       the Balkans, as well as friends of the Prime
     journalists and media workers in Germany.                                                              partners were concerned in particular about      Minister’s son. One case of physical violence
     Reported to the public on 5 May, nine edi-          The tension between media professionals            the safety of a number of investigative          against a journalist on assignment was re-
     torial offices of German media outlets were         and the police was particularly high in June       journalists. The Crime and Corruption Re-        ported on election night on 21 June.
     among the recipients of death threats sent          when the Tageszeitung published an opin-           porting Network (KRIK) was targeted twice
     by a right-wing extremist group, who signed         ion piece entitled “Abolition of the police
     the letters with the pseudonym, “musicians          - All cops are incapable of working”. Refer-
                                                         ring to police officers, the police future and
     of Staatsstreichorchester”, alongside ‘sieg                                                            Sweden
     heil’ and ‘heil Hitler’ and a threat that ‘“there   structural racism, the satirical piece was tar-
                                                         geted by a threat of legal action by Interior      Number of Mapping Media Freedom alerts within reporting period: 3
     is enough ammunition to liquidate each of
     them”. In June, a ZDF TV crew were attacked         Minister Horst Seehofer. While he ultimately       While the number of threats to emanate           online abuse via social media platforms, in-
     while reporting on the trial of a right-wing        backtracked, the police trade union, GdP           from Sweden during the reporting period          cluding death threats against himself and
     extremist, Sven Liebich. Around 15 peo-             has filed a complaint both against the news-       is lower than other countries highlighted in     his family, insults and hate speech. Some
     ple verbally and physically attacked the            paper and the journalist. This affair is listed    this report, the nature and target of these      users referred to him as a “terrorist”, while
     award-winning reporter, Arndt Ginzel and            in three alerts on the platform.                   threats require specific attention. All three    personal information about his family and
     his camera operator, while also attempting                                                             alerts relate to journalists, media workers      his location in Sweden was also shared,
                                                                                                            and press cartoonists who live and work in       with many pseudonymous accounts calling
                                                                                                            Sweden, but originate from another country       on Swedish authorities to revoke his right
     Serbia                                                                                                 and for whom threats made against them           to live and work in Sweden.
                                                                                                            also traverse national borders, both within
     Number of Mapping Media Freedom alerts within reporting period: 10                                                                                      Turkish journalists based outside Turkey
                                                                                                            and without Europe. On 23 April, the body
     The press and media freedom situation in            the situation in a local hospital in Novi Sad.     of Sweden-based Pakistani journalist, Sajid      have not been spared from the country’s
     Serbia is of great concern to the MFRR.                                                                Hussain Baloch was discovered in the Fyris       clamp down on media freedom, with the
     With COVID-19, the free flow of infor-              The government control over information            River, outside Uppsala after being reported      Turkish Government using extradition re-
     mation was seriously impacted with four             created an environment where journalists           missing the month before. A spokesperson         quests to target a number of journalists
     alerts recording government attempts or             challenging the official narrative on the virus    for the police, Jonas Eronen told the me-        across Europe. On 9 March 2020, Turkey
     actual restrictions on the publication of           were seen as “acting against the interests         dia: “The autopsy has dispelled some of the      formally requested the extradition of Turk-
     information related to the pandemic. The            of the State” or as “COVID-19 friends”. No         suspicion that he was the victim of a crime,”    ish journalist, Levent Kenez from Sweden,
     most visible example was the new format             less than eight alerts document harassment         While the police closed the preliminary in-      where he is living in exile. The requests
     of press conferences when the virus was             and psychological abuse such as smear              vestigation on 15 July, there remains a series   stated that Kenez singled out judge, Kemal
     at its peak. Under the pretext of ensuring          campaigns and online bullying against jour-        of unanswered questions as to whether this       Selçuk Yalçın and prosecutor, Can Tuncay as
     the safety of reporters, journalists were           nalists critical in their reports of the govern-   was connected to his work.                       targets for terrorist groups in his reporting
     strictly limited to questions sent in writing       ment’s handling of the crisis. Further to this,                                                     for Turkish-language news website, TR724
     ahead of the daily briefing, with no inter-         three journalists received death threats. It is    On 20 April, a cartoonist of Palestinian ori-    about a court’s decision to hand down ag-
     action or possibility to ask follow-up ques-        important to note that alongside unknown           gin, Mahmoud Abbas, who works for Al Ja-         gravated life sentences to six journalists and
     tions. In addition, a journalist was detained       citizens, media outlets close to the govern-       zeera and is based in Sweden, published a        media workers on charges of attempting “to
     and deprived of her mobile phone and lap-           ment participated in these shameful cam-           cartoon about the collapse of international      destroy the constitutional order.” Sweden
     top for a number of hours after revealing           paigns.                                            oil prices during the COVID-19 pandemic.         has not confirmed whether it will approve or
     chaotic conditions and mismanagement of                                                                The following day he received a torrent of       deny this request.

22       Mapping Media Freedom | Monitoring Report                                                                                                           Mapping Media Freedom | Monitoring Report        23
The nature of each of these threats highlight    of host countries to both offer protection       journalists on assignment were recorded
     the precariousness of those working in exile     that best suits the journalist’s need and be     in Edinburgh and London.
     or as refugees, the specific threats that are    able to resist external or diplomatic pressure
     present when they continue their work from       to protect media freedom.                        Like Germany, the United Kingdom has been
     another country, as well as the requirement                                                       the venue of a number of public protest
                                                                                                       movements notably in the context of COV-
                                                                                                       ID-19 and Black Lives Matter demonstra-
                                                                                                       tions, including counter protests organised
     United Kingdom
                                                                                                       by right wing groups. Two Australian jour-
     Number of Mapping Media Freedom alerts within reporting period: 11                                nalists were attacked by an individual yell-
     The United Kingdom remains a source of           ization, ‘Combat 18’. A further alert on the     ing ‘Allahu Akhbar, who grabbed Nine News
     great concern for the safety of journalists      Mapping Media Freedom platform in May            Europe correspondent, Sophie Walsh and
     and in particular of women journalists. Four     reported credible threats made against an        made stabbing motions during a Black Lives
     cases uploaded to the Mapping Media Free-        undisclosed number of journalists working        Matter (BLM) protest in London on 3 June.
     dom platform refer to threats against female     for Sunday World and Sunday life news-           However, the number of threats to journal-
     journalists who have been subjected to rac-      papers who were informed by the Police           ists from right-wing ‘counter’ protesters
     ist, misogynistic and sexualised comments        Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) that the      dwarfed those from BLM protesters. On 13
     in relation to their work. Two journalists       South Antrim Ulster Defence Association          June, a number of journalists were attacked
     experienced substantiated threats to their       (UDA), a loyalist paramilitary organisa-         or threatened at a far-right protest outside
     safety and that of their children, including     tion involved in serious crime, were plan-       the Houses of Parliament, where an Italian
     death threats and threats of sexual vio-         ning to target them with physical attacks        journalist and photographer, Corrado Ami-
     lence. In the case of The Mail journalist, Amy   and a car bomb. The MFRR reacted with            trano had his nose broken, requiring hospi-
     Fenton, the severity and scale of the threats    a joint statement calling on the PSNI to         tal treatment, and was verbally attacked as
     required police protection, as well as a tem-    fully investigate the threats and the Gov-       police brought him to safety. Another pho-
     porary relocation, which has led, at the time    ernments in Stormont and Westminster to          tographer was hit as protestors hurled barri-
     of writing, to Amy Fenton still living outside   prioritise the protection of journalists.        cades at the police, and three reporters had
     her county with her young child.                                                                  their mobile phones knocked out of their
                                                      The United Kingdom was not spared by             hand whilst they were filming. The follow-
     One year after the murder of Lyra McKee,         the COVID-19 pandemic and its negative           ing day in Leeds, a reporter from Yorkshire
     Northern Ireland was back in the MFRR’s          impact on the way journalists accessed           Live was threatened and doused in beer by
     focus as it was clear that journalists con-      information and reported on the ground.          a group of counter-demonstrators opposing
     tinue to run the risk of attacks from or-        Four alerts refer to threats that occurred       a Black Lives Matter protest.
     ganised crime gangs and paramilitary             in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak,
     organisations. Sunday World journalist,          from reporters being banned from attend-
     Patricia Delvin and her family have also         ing official daily COVID-19 briefing due
     been threatened with abuse that was “sec-        to their critical reporting on the Govern-
     tarian and misogynistic in nature”, which        ment’s response to the pandemic, to the
     included threats of sexual violence against      extension of the time limit within which
     her infant son. This follows threats made        public bodies in Scotland are required to
     by an individual who signed off a threat         reply to Freedom of Information requests.
     with the name of neo-nazi terrorist organ-       Two cases of physical attacks against

24       Mapping Media Freedom | Monitoring Report                                                                                                     Mapping Media Freedom | Monitoring Report   25
CROSS-REGIONAL THEMATIC
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS
                                                         March - June 2020

        COVID-19 - Response and
        Impact (IPI)
        Few global events in the last few decades            42
        have had such an immediate and signifi-
        cant effect on press and media freedom
        as the COVID-19 pandemic. As the health             MMF Alerts
        crisis worsened, borders shut and states
        of emergency were implemented, several
        EU Member States and Candidate Coun-
        tries moved quickly to control the media                                 4
        narrative, intensifying existing pressures
                                                                                                 3
        in problematic countries while creating
        myriad novel challenges in others. In total,                                 4
        aided by IPI’s global COVID-19 press free-
        dom tracker, MFRR partners documented
        press freedom violations linked to the
        coronavirus in 13 of the EU’s 34 different
        Member States and Candidate Countries.
                                                                                                     3
                                                                                         3
                                                                                             1
        These included new laws on “fake news”,
        restrictions on access to information and
        physical attacks on journalists seeking to
                                                                                     3                   3
        cover various aspects of the pandemic,
        including demonstrations. Meanwhile,
                                                                                                                     1
                                                                                                         4
        government efforts to combat the spread
        of the pandemic, such as increased sur-
                                                                             3                                                              8
        veillance, pose a potentially serious threat
        to the ability of journalists to protect their                                                       2
        sources and conduct their work free from
        the state’s roving eye.

26   Mapping Media Freedom | Monitoring Report                                                           Mapping Media Freedom | Monitoring Report   27
While in some cases government actions re-       mation which undermines the authorities’           vidual and joint reactions and statements,       press were proportionate, and ensuring na-
     stricting the work of the press and the me-      fight against COVID-19 with fines and up           commissioned legal opinions, organised           tional governments abided by international
     dia may have reflected a misguided attempt       to five years in prison. The move followed         online events, webinars and high level           democratic standards.
     to steer the flow of information for public      renewed rhetoric by Fidesz and its allies          meetings, and coordinated with journalists
     health reasons, other states actively sought     smearing media articles critically examining       and associations in almost every EU Mem-
     to take advantage of the health emergency        the government’s preparedness and actions          ber State and Candidate Country in order
     to push through emergency legislation se-        during the crisis as ”fake news“. The Hun-         to monitor, evaluate, and push back against
     riously eroding press and media freedom.         garian authorities also sought to control the      efforts to restrict media coverage around
     Both of these developments stand in dia-         narrative by blocking independent journal-         the pandemic. This discussion and dialogue
     metric opposition to the media’s crucial role    ists‘ access to official information, as well as   and the geographic scope of knowledge
     in delivering valuable health information, de-   to healthcare workers.                             between MFRR members allowed moni-
     bating the strategies to combat the health                                                          toring organisations to identify and pub-
     crisis, and managing fundamental societal        While this case of government overreach            lish dozens of alerts to the Mapping Media
     shifts brought on by the pandemic, including     was by far the most controversial, other           Freedom platform, creating an important
     the most significant (even if in many cases      EU Member States with poor records on              database of threats, while establishing a
     temporary) rollback of fundamental rights in     media freedom, such as Bulgaria and Ro-            clearer picture of the emerging health crisis
     generations.                                     mania, passed a number of emergency de-            and efforts by states to control the media
                                                      crees that affected freedom of expression,         narrative. This data also helped inform the
     By chance, the first few months of the MFRR      sparking warnings from MFRR partners.              creation of several policy documents and
     overlapped almost exactly with the spread        Elsewhere, Candidate Countries such as             were used as the foundation of numerous
     of COVID-19 and the fundamental changes          Serbia moved to control reporting and im-          MFRR briefings to the both the Europe-
     to politics and society that accompanied         pose restrictions on journalists’ access to        an Commission and European Parliament
     it. This meant that almost from day one of       information, including by seeking to prevent       Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and
     the project, the MFRR reacted immediately        healthcare workers from speaking to jour-          Home Affairs (LIBE). These documents also
     to monitor the quickly changing situation        nalists investigating the country’s prepared-      provided a synthesis of continent-wide
     within EU Member States and Candidate            ness to combat the pandemic. Meanwhile,            changes and helped policymakers under-
     Countries, many of which were among the          IPI also documented at least eight different       stand developing issues and flash points.
     hardest hit in the world by the virus. As well   EU Member States and Candidate Coun-               For the most egregious of these threats to
     as reacting swiftly to individual threats and    tries which moved to suspend or extend the         press freedom, such as those observed in
     violations, this meant simultaneously trying     deadlines for authorities to respond to free-      Hungary, MFRR partners were on the front
     to analyse the larger trends and shifts in       dom of information (FOI) requests, including       line of international advocacy efforts from
     politics and policy in individual states, re-    Spain, Scotland and Italy. In other cases,         the outset and organised important events
     gions and the bloc as a whole.                   governments moved reflexively to do away           to bring the issue to the attention of the
                                                      with press conferences or restrict them to         international media and wider world. This
     The most serious threats were observed in        certain media outlets or publications. Many        work in first underlining the values and prin-
     states with existing authoritarian tendencies    backtracked after extensive criticism.             ciples of media freedom that states should
     such as Hungary, where the pandemic has
                                                                                                         abide by during the pandemic, and then the
     been exploited to grab more powers and           During this period of intense activity and
                                                                                                         combined pressure against those whose
     tighten control over information. Orbán’s        co-operation, MFRR partners produced an
                                                                                                         policies or actions undermined them, had
     Fidesz party, passed a new law criminalising     array of new advocacy tools, formed new
                                                                                                         an significant impact in informing EU poli-
     the spreading of “false” or “distorted” infor-   working groups, published dozens of indi-
                                                                                                         cymakers, ensuring measures affecting the

28       Mapping Media Freedom | Monitoring Report                                                                                                        Mapping Media Freedom | Monitoring Report    29
CROSS-REGIONAL THEMATIC
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS
                                                        March - June 2020

        Threats against journalists
        and media workers related
        to protests and demon-
        strations (EFJ)                                     28
        While protests and demonstrations re-
        main a complex and challenging situa-
        tion for journalists and media workers             MMF Alerts
        to operate in, they oftentimes represent
        situations most in need of independ-

                                                                                3
        ent and robust media investigation and
        coverage. It is a worrying trend that has
        been monitored over the last few years                                                                            2
        that journalists and media workers are
        increasingly at risk of physical and verbal
                                                                                        1           7
        attacks while covering demonstrations.
        Threats emerge from a range of different
        actors, including police officers or secu-
        rity services charged with maintaining
                                                                                                                1
                                                                                    5
                                                                                                                1
        the peace and groups of demonstrators.
        Alerts (28 in total) posted on the platform
        show journalists and media workers in 13
        countries, including Germany (7 alerts),
                                                                                                        2
        France (5 alerts) and United Kingdom                                                                                       1
        (3 alerts) were at-risk or threatened for
        their presence at protests or for their role
                                                                                                                                  1                         1
        as a journalist. In total, 45 journalists and
        media workers were attacked between
                                                                            1                                                           2
        March and June during and related to
        demonstrations and protests in EU Mem-
        ber States and Candidate Countries. In
        most cases they were clearly identified
        as media professionals.

                                                                                        This analysis includes the 24 alerts which happened during a demonstration
30   Mapping Media Freedom | Monitoring Report                                          plus 4 which were closely related to demonstrations    and protests.
                                                                                                                                 Mapping Media Freedom | Monitoring Report   31
The first four months of the MFRR has been      Extreme cases of physical violence               sometimes attacks on journalistic property           and their equipment (aiming for cameras or
     punctuated by popular protest movements         A majority of the alerts (17) from protests      (11 cases) which can make it difficult or im-        knocking phones out of a journalist’s hands)
     taking place in cities, towns and villages      or demonstrations highlighted physical as-       possible for the professionals to continue to        in a manner to prevent coverage or intim-
     across Europe. These are organised for a        saults, in some cases resulting in injuries.     do their job on the spot.                            idate the journalist from follow up or future
     range of issues including government re-        Some of the alerts reveal extreme violence                                                            reporting. This chilling or intimidation tactic
     sponses to the COVID-19 pandemic, leg-          against journalists and media workers who        Far-right extremist groups particu-                  can also be seen in the verbal harassments
     acies and the contemporary impact of            required hospitalisation. This can severely      larly hostile to journalists                         and threats facing journalists in Europe. For
     structural racism, climate justice, domestic    impact the journalist’s mental and physical      While many of the violations documented              example, in Italy, a group of demonstrators
     or cross-border corruption scandals, abus-      health, their ability to inform the public and   between March and June 2020 were linked              chanted slogans comparing journalists to
     es of power or party political movements.       can encourage other journalists or media         to the COVID-19 pandemic (see COVID-19               ‘terrorists’ and threw stones, bottles and fire-
     While the organising principles for these       workers to self-censor and avoid carrying        section) and the opposition movements (an-           crackers at a TV crew while they were carry-
     protests may be divergent, the threats to       out their work due to the increased risks and    ti-lockdown or anti-government protests),            ing out interviews.
     journalists and media workers are alarming-     inadequate support mechanisms available to       journalists also faced threats while covering
     ly consistent. According to analysis devel-     them. At the beginning of May, a number of                                                            As much of these actions took place after
                                                                                                      Black Lives Matter (BLM) demonstrations
     oped by IPI, as part of the MFRR, a range of    protests across Germany resulted in threats                                                           the journalist or media worker identified
                                                                                                      and the right-wing protests that emerged
     threats against journalists and media work-     or attacks against journalists and media                                                              themselves as journalists, the targeting of
                                                                                                      to counter them. While alerts in Belgium and
     ers in Italy, Germany, Poland and Slovenia      workers. This included an attack on a ZDF                                                             journalists for their work cannot be ignored
                                                                                                      the United Kingdom were connected to BLM
     occurred at protests related to the COV-        TV crew filming a satirical news programme                                                            or ruled out.
                                                                                                      protests, these were dwarfed by the threats
     ID-19 pandemic (or the state’s response         in Berlin on 1 May, by approximately 20 peo-     coming from right-wing counter protests,
     to it); in the United Kingdom and Belgium       ple, which resulted in five journalists being    especially in Germany, France, Spain, Italy          Disproportionate police violence
     at Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests; and,      injured, four of which requiring hospitalisa-    and the United Kingdom. Data shows that              and legal measures against jour-
     in Germany, France, Spain, Italy and the        tion. The danger of crowds and coordinated       these gatherings were conducive to threats           nalists
     United Kingdom at rallies organised by far-     attacks at protests was also documented in       against media professionals and especially           As highlighted above, private individuals (in
     right political and extremist groups. Further   a number of threats to journalists in France.    when organised by far-right political parties        15 cases), but also the police (in 10 cas-
     to this, journalists and media workers in       When journalists working for France 3 Bour-      or extremist groups with many alerts high-           es) deployed to maintain public safety to-
     Greece were subjected to threats of vio-        gogne were violently attacked by a group         lighting the dangerous nature of such events         gether constitute the main sources of the
     lence for covering the refugee and migrant      of armed individuals, this prevented them        for journalists and media workers. In these          threats. In a statement published in May
     crisis. A number of other rallies in Montene-   being able to broadcast their report to the      cases, the types of threats deployed includ-         and updated in July, due to the scale of
     gro, Albania, France, Germany and Austria       public. Alongside the physical and men-          ed the threat of or actual physical attacks, in      the issue, MFRR partners denounced the
     have also resulted in threats to journalists    tal wellbeing of the journalists and media       a manner that sought to both restrict media          increased violence against media profes-
     and media workers in the period between         workers, attacks at protests can disrupt and     scrutiny of the protest movement, single out         sionals at protests and in particular the use
     March and June 2020. While the nature of        prevent independent press coverage being         individual media professionals or demonise           by police forces of non-fatal firearms, tear
     the threats differ, including everything from   broadcast or completed. This can at times        the profession at large.                             gas and aggressive crowd dispersal tactics
     violent attacks and verbal harassment and       be self-defeating for the protest itself, tar-                                                        which can result in serious injuries as doc-
     threats, to laws criminalising both protest     geting a mechanism that can increase pub-        This dynamic can be seen in the threats from         umented by the platform1.
     and the activities of journalists covering      lic awareness of an issue of social and pub-     protests in Spain, Germany, France, Italy and
                                                                                                      the UK, where violence, or the threat of vi-         Violence deployed by police officers or se-
     these movements, this represents a signif-      lic interest, while also discouraging further
                                                                                                      olence, was deployed to target journalists           curity services can be seen to fall in a num-
     icant threat to press and media freedom,        media attention or coverage.
                                                                                                                                                           ber of discrete categories inline with a per-
     while also isolating protest movements from
     external scrutiny or solidarity from broader    Physical violence is often accompanied by
                                                     insults and verbal abuses (14 cases) and         1   Recommendations for national authorities and police officers include training on proportionate and
     communities and networks.                                                                            lawful responses to better protect journalists in the performance of their duty.

32       Mapping Media Freedom | Monitoring Report                                                                                                         Mapping Media Freedom | Monitoring Report           33
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