Attacks on journalists, lack of transparency: All the reasons why media freedom in EU is ‘at its breaking point’

A leading civil liberties network said that media freedom across the European Union is “perilously close” to a breaking point in several member nation-states.

The Berlin-based group called the Civil Liberties Union for Europe (Liberties) issued its annual media freedom report in which they highlighted the growing threats against journalists and attacks on the independence of public broadcasters in the region.

The report was compiled by 37 rights groups from 19 countries. It stated that the alarming trends identified previously persisted in 2023.

“Media freedom is clearly in steady decline across the EU – in many countries as a result of deliberate harm or neglect by national governments,” said Eva Simon, the senior advocacy officer at Liberties.

“Declining media freedom goes hand in hand with a decline in the rule of law. There’s a close correlation between the two. This is the playbook of authoritarian regimes.” she added. However, Simon maintained that the new EU media legislation “has potential” but must be properly implemented.

What are the key findings?

The key findings of the report are as follows:

• Media freedom and pluralism

The report stated that strong media ownership concentration continues to define the domestic markets of several EU nations since 2023. The body claimed that little was done to improve and increase media ownership transparency.

The media network mentioned that media ownership concentration was high in countries like Croatia, France, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia.

Highlighting the uncertainty faced by Public Service Media (PSM) operating in the European nations, the body pointed out the situation in Poland where the change in the government led to major changes in the Polish media houses.

It also noted how Hungary is the only nation in the EU which still does not maintain independent media regulatory bodies. Not only this, levels of public trust are at an all-time low in countries like the Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, and Slovakia, and levels remained low in France and Greece in 2023.

The report lists journalists who have faced physical attacks in 2023 in Croatia, France, Germany, Greece and Italy. The body found that several European journalists are facing lawsuits.

The body found that spyware like Pegasus and Predator are also being used to keep an eye on the works of reporters and news organisations.

Several civil organisations have reported attempts made by European countries to censor members of the press. The biggest culprits of this are Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Hungary, Ireland, Italy and Greece. Hate speech continues to remain prevalent in Germany, Ireland and Slovenia.

The network mentioned that disinformation and restrictions on access to public interest information are also major problems among EU member nations.

What are the recommendations?

The media group recommended monitoring the enforcement of the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA). The legislation which safeguards the integrity of media.

The group also requested the member nations to ensure the independence of public service media and establish frameworks to protect journalists from malicious surveillance.

The group also asked the EU to create a database on state advertisement spending to ensure that the media does not become the victim of the government’s arbitrary oversight.