Members of the European parliament (MEP) and EU countries are preparing for challenging negotiations on media freedom. The Legal Affairs Committee of the European Parliament has once again supported the strategic lawsuit against public participation SLAPP directive (strategic lawsuit against public participation), which aims to facilitate the dismissal of unfounded lawsuits used to silence journalists and human rights defenders.
German Socialist MEP, Tiemo Wölken, stated: "When a journalist is threatened with legal action, it reduces the likelihood that they will publish or disclose the issue they want to report on. This chilling effect not only violates the rights of those protected by the directive but also threatens everyone else's right to access information. It hinders not only journalists but also ordinary people from exercising their right to information and freely discussing it in public."
Lawmakers want the burden of proof and all costs to be borne by the plaintiff, while the defendant would only receive compensation. MEPs oppose any attempts to weaken the directive.
"We have made it stronger and added other provisions, such as the creation of a single centre that journalists and human rights activists can turn to for help. They also have national networks of special advocates, legal practitioners and psychologists at their disposal," added Tiemo Wölken.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), 2022 witnessed the detention of 363 journalists across over 30 countries, with Iran, China, and Myanmar having the highest number of detainees. This represents a nearly twofold increase from 2015 and marks the highest number of imprisonments since the CPJ started monitoring such cases thirty years ago.
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