October 20, 2023
Taylor Simmons
Press freedom is on the decline around the world. Populism has been on the rise worldwide, with leaders coming to power who are often combative against journalists and freedom of the press. During the height of the COVID pandemic, 75% of countries blocked media outlets to some extent (Blatt 2021). Finally, national security concerns have risen recently as conflict stirs in Eastern Europe and beyond. All of these factors have contributed to the global decline in press freedom.
This trend is visible in Europe with rising concerns about press freedom in the European Union. For instance, the Hungarian government has imposed severe restrictions on the press for several years. In 2018, the ruling Fidesz party and PM Viktor Orbán created the Central European Press and Media Foundation. This organization disproportionately funds pro-Fidesz news outlets: “Better known by its Hungarian acronym, KESMA, it was created hastily last year and is now made up of hundreds of media outlets, most of them pro-Orbán newspapers that have benefited from substantial amounts of government advertising” (Ariès 2019). Because Hungary is not sponsoring official state-affiliated media or pooling funds towards one company, KESMA has been able to skirt EU anti-trust laws. Similarly, Hungary does not explicitly censor journalists who promote stories that could harm Fidesz; they just get drowned out by government-funded pro-Orbán outlets.
Hungary is far from the only country in the EU implementing more stringent laws against press freedom. In 2021, the Greek government made disinformation punishable by up to five years in prison (RSF 2021). However, restrictive laws are far from being the only hurdle for journalists in the EU. In recent years, it has become more fashionable for EU politicians to attack and intimidate journalists publicly. Robert Fico, Slovakia’s former Prime Minister (now newly re-elected), publicly described journalists as “filthy anti-Slovak prostitutes” and “idiotic hyenas” (Davies 2018). Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša called the Slovenian Press Agency a “national disgrace.” In 2020, Mr. Janša attacked the public broadcasting organization Radiotelevizija Slovenija, tweeting, “Obviously there are too many of you and you are paid too well” (Bayer 2021).
Violence against journalists has also seen an uptick in recent years. In 2018, reporters were murdered in Malta and Slovakia (RSF 2018). Slovakian PM Robert Fico was forced to resign amid backlash over the murder of Ján Kuciak, a journalist reporting on corruption in the Slovak government (Siegfried 2018). Daphne Caruana Galizia, a Maltese journalist who leaked the Panama Papers – revealing the offshore assets of numerous wealthy individuals – was blown up by a car bomb (Garside 2017).
While the aforementioned trends have occurred for several years, the EU now faces new challenges to journalistic freedom due to national security concerns. After Russia invaded Ukraine, the country began a new wave of information warfare against the West. Russian outlets such as RT have become (more than they already were) notorious for muddying the waters in information warfare. In response to this development, EU countries have begun to restrict journalism under the pretext of national security. The Latvian government arbitrarily revoked a non-state-affiliated Russian outlet’s media license (RSF 2023). Through its intelligence agencies, Greece was caught spying on Thanasis Koukakis, a financial crimes journalist (Georgiopoulos 2022). While the justification for this action has been couched in security language, the spying seems likely to have been politically motivated, with many dubbing it “the Greek Watergate” (Emmanouilidou & Markham 2022). Meanwhile, Sweden has passed new laws that weaken the confidentiality of journalists’ sources (RSF 2023).
Against this background, the European Commission introduced the European Media Freedom Act. The Act protects journalists from domestic political pressure and prevents EU member states from spying on reporters. Additionally, the Act regulates government funding of media outlets, so organizations like KESMA cannot control the media landscape of an entire country. The Act includes pluralism tests, transparent state advertising, and online media content protection. Alongside the protections is a Recommendation that outlines best practices for governments to follow when regulating. The Recommendation also provides tools that media companies can voluntarily follow, such as allowing journalists to participate in the decision-making of the outlets (European Commission 2022).
Because EU legislation is achieved through compromise between the member states, many have been skeptical about how effective this Act is. NGOs have largely positive towards the Act. Reporters Without Borders put out a piece explaining how the EU has taken amendments from NGOs representing journalists: “The proposed legislation incorporates a number of proposals made by RSF during its discussions with European institutions in recent months” (RSF 2023). RSF’s most significant contribution to the Act was statutes concerning media ownership transparency. Additionally, the legislation explicitly prohibits many of the harmful practices discussed above. The act protects editorial independence, protects the confidentiality of journalists’ sources, and bans EU member states from using spyware against journalists. While the response from journalists has been mostly positive, some have criticized the Act for providing special privileges to media outlets. The EMFA’s Article 17 concerns disinformation. The Act grants the EU increased powers to police platforms like Twitter and Facebook for disinformation. However, the Electronic Frontier Foundation criticizes the Act for providing an exception for self-proclaimed media outlets (Collings & Schmon 2023). Such an exemption could potentially harm efforts to curb misinformation on social media since media outlets will not be subject to the same rules.
Since the legislation left the Commission, some governments have rushed to create government-friendly media while they still have the chance. Italian PM Giorgia Meloni has radically transformed the Italian state broadcaster, Rai, since she took office. Ms. Meloni’s government has filled nearly all management positions with her followers. Since then, numerous reporters have left, and anti-mafia author Roberto Saviano was dismissed after a public spat with Ms. Meloni. Similar circumstances exist in Greece, where journalists allegedly self-censor not to get fired from Amna, the state news agency (Melchior & Schumann 2023).
As of September 2023, the negotiations in the European Parliament are coming to a close. Talks have been relatively slow because many domestic governments in the EU benefit from the status quo. The European Parliament is expected to pass the legislation in early October. Once passed by the Parliament, the law will be enforceable in EU courts, which could impose heavy fines on governments that infringe on freedom of the press (Melchior & Schumann 2023).
Works Cited
Ariès, Quentin. “Europe’s Failure to Protect Liberty in Hungary.” The Atlantic, December 19, 2019.
Bayer, Lili. “Inside Slovenia’s war on the media.” Politico, February 16, 2021. Blatt, Jessica. “Press Freedom Globally in Decline.” VOA News, April 20, 2021.
Collings, Paige & Schmon, Christoph. “EU Media Freedom Act: A Media Privilege in Content Moderation Is a Really Bad Idea.” Electronic Frontier Foundation, July 12, 2023.
Davies, Christian. “Slovakia’s PM resigns amid scandal over murder of a journalist.” The Guardian, March 15, 2018.
Emmanouilidou, Lydia & Markham, Lauren. “How Free is the Press in the Birthplace of Democracy.” The New York Times, November 26, 2022.
“European Media Freedom Act: Commission Proposes Rules to Protect Media Pluralism and Independence in the EU.” European Commission, September 16, 2022.
Garside, Juliette. “Malta car bomb kills Panama Papers journalist.” The Guardian, October 16, 2017.
Georgiopoulos, George. “Greek Intelligence Service Admits Spying on Journalist.” Reuters, August 3, 2022.
Melchior and Schumann. “A New EU Law, and the Battle to Protect Europe’s Journalists.” EU Observer, September 6, 2023.
Mortkowitz, Siegfried. “Slovak PM Robert Fico Resigns.” Politico, March 15, 2018.
“Press Freedom in Europe overshadowed by the war in Ukraine.” Reporters Without Borders, 2023.
“Proposed European Media Freedom Act Adopts the Approach of the New Deal for Journalism.” Reporters Without Borders, September 26, 2022.
“RSF Index 2018: Hatred of Journalism Threatens Democracies.” Reporters Without Borders, 2018.