Council of Europe expresses concern over rise in threats and pressure against journalists in Europe
“Threats and intimidation, detention of journalists, restrictive legislation, lawsuits or lawsuits filed by a powerful person or organization against persons not belonging to governments and attacks on public media.”
The Council of Europe’s Safety of Journalists Platform has reported a growing diversity of threats, pressure and constraints under which journalists must carry out their mission in 2023 across Europe.
According to the 2024 annual report published on Tuesday, the main issues affecting press freedom in Europe are threats and intimidation, detention of journalists, restrictive legislation, SLAPPs (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation), i.e. abusive lawsuits, media capture , and attacks on public service media.
The CoE report assesses the main threats to media freedom in Europe (in Council of Europe member states as well as Russia, following its expulsion from the Council of Europe in 2022 and Belarus) based on alerts published in 2023 by the 15 media freedom and journalist organizations that are partners of the platform. It was presented in a press conference on “the state of media freedom in Europe” in Thessaloniki.
The report mentions Greece, which was singled out together with Hungary for the use of Pegasus and equivalent surveillance spyware (PEGA). It is noted that targeted recommendations have been made by the European parliament to Hungary, Poland, Greece, Cyprus and Spain for the use of spyware.
It also notes that a mission to Greece in 2023 by press freedom organisations made a series of recommendations to the authorities to address concerns about physical and legal threats and end the delays and uncertainties related to investigations into cases including the murder of journalist Giorgos Karaivaz in 2021.
It adds that the country established in 2022 a task force with government and civil society representatives, charged with monitoring the working environment for journal- ists and making proposals to strengthen protections. Clear-cut evidence that effective new safeguards are being introduced is awaited.
