The Secretary General of the Council of Europe has expressed “concern” about the findings of the 2022 report published on Wednesday 27 April by 15 partner organisations of the Council of Europe’s “Platform to promote the protection of journalism and safety of journalists”.
Very alarmingly, this text indicates that the number of alerts has risen from 200 in 2020 to 281 in 2021, which represents an increase of 41%.
Referring to the war in Ukraine, which has cost the lives of many journalists, Marija Pejčinović Burić reminds governments that they have an obligation to take measures to protect them.
In general, she deplores a “general trend towards erosion of freedom of expression and freedom of the press” in Europe, despite “partial improvements in some countries”, and calls for “redoubling of our efforts” to defend these “core principles” for our democracies.
The report also expresses concern about the rise in judicial intimidation, the increasing use of libel proceedings to silence the media and the adoption of restrictive measures under the pretext of fighting fake news.
Other worrying trends include the erosion of the independence of public service media and the takeover of private media by governments in some countries, electronic surveillance of journalists, restrictions on their work, especially on the subject of migration, and threats from organised crime.
The platform partners regret that the Council of Europe member states have only responded to one third of the alerts issued in 2021.
Link to the 2022 report on the protection of journalists: https://aeur.eu/f/1eo (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)