While the EU has become aware of the need to protect media freedom, progress in this area is “mired in contradictions” and limitations, says a report by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) published on Tuesday 25 April.
The CPJ does recognise the positive impetus given by the current European Commission to defend the media. It particularly welcomes initiatives such as the Recommendation on the safety of journalists, the Directive to combat gagging procedures (‘anti-SLAPPs’) or the Media Freedom Act (EMFA).
However, “the EU’s shift still needs to be translated into meaningful action within member states”, it warned. The report points out that in view of its “limited ability to change recalcitrant behaviour in member states”, the EU’s action comes up against the will of national governments.
The report also highlights contradictions in the EU’s legislative initiatives. While putting forward texts dedicated to improving the media environment, other legislative instruments restrict it. The Business Secrecy Directive, for example, poses “a routine obstacle to legitimate public interest reporting”. Similarly, measures to combat online child abuse and terrorism or to protect private data can be used to censor journalists or limit their work. The EU institutions themselves, CPJ adds, “are far from fully transparent”.
Finally, for the CPJ, “the EU’s foreign relations strategy for dealing with autocrats who violate journalists’ rights often still lacks uniformity or clarity”.
The Committee therefore recommends that the EU should: - address legislation and practices that restrict the work of journalists; - ensure that the EMFA and the ‘anti-SLAPP’ directive are robust; - strengthen its political, diplomatic and emergency assistance to journalists in danger.
Read the report: https://aeur.eu/f/6k5 (Original version in French by Hélène Seynaeve)