PNN – European Union of Civil Liberties warned: Media freedom in some European countries is dangerously close to the “breaking point”.
According to the report of Pakistan News Network, the Guardian wrote: Media freedom is declining across the EU and is dangerously close to breaking point in some countries, the leading civil liberties group has warned.
This issue has led to the spread of threats against journalists and attacks on independent public broadcasting networks.
The Berlin-based Union for Civil Liberties for Europe, in its annual report on freedom of the media, prepared by 37 human rights groups in 19 countries, on the future of this alarming trend that was already identified and during continued in 2023, expressed hope that new laws in the European Union would improve this process.
Eva Simon, the senior official of this union, said: “Media freedom has decreased uniformly throughout Europe, and in some countries it is the result of deliberate damage or neglect of national governments.”
He added: The reduction of media freedom is associated with the reduction of rule of law and there is a close connection between the two.
Read more:
Harvard University students raised the Palestinian flag instead of the American flag
The Civil Liberties Union report also states that the European media landscape last year was characterized by a strong focus on media ownership, inadequate laws on transparency in media ownership, and numerous threats to the independence and financial issues of public media.
The report also documented numerous cases of threats, intimidation, surveillance and violence against journalists in several Rupa member states, as well as restrictions on freedom of expression and access to information across the bloc.
This union has asked the European Commission to carefully monitor the implementation of the new media freedom law in the EU member states.
The report notes that journalists in countries such as Croatia, France, Germany and Italy have faced physical attacks in 2023, and in Hungary and Slovakia journalists have faced abuse and threats from elected politicians.
In Romania and Sweden, the police have not been able to properly investigate attacks on journalists due to lack of resources or the will to do so. Meanwhile, in France and Bulgaria, police officials have been the cause of attacks on journalists.
According to this report, slapping is a common method of dealing with journalists in countries such as Croatia, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands and Sweden, and in some other countries such as Germany, Greece, Poland and the Netherlands, journalists use software Spy like Pegasus and Predator are under surveillance.
In Germany, Hungary, Lithuania and the Netherlands, journalists critical of the government have been excluded from press conferences or other official events and denied access to documents that should be in their possession.
In Slovakia, the country’s populist Prime Minister Robert Fico has cut off “all communications” with four media outlets accused of “openly displaying hostile views.” This month, his government passed a controversial bill on the revision of Radio and Television (RTVS).
This report also stated that in Hungary, the public service media, which are completely under the control of the government, produce contents that are characterized by one-sided and biased reporting and always act in line with the interests of the ruling Fidesz party.
In Poland, the state of public broadcasting is uncertain, as the country’s new Prime Minister Donald Tusk tries to reverse the interference of the previous government. There are also growing concerns about the treatment of the media in the governments of Croatia and Italy.