ARTICLE 19

ARTICLE 19 demands that Belarusian authorities immediately drop the criminal case against Bakhvalova and Chultsova and refrain from any similar charges against journalists covering protests in the future.

In the weeks leading up to the Congress, courts handed down several lengthy sentences to individuals based on their online activities.

“The DSA places new transparency and due diligence obligations on very large online platforms. The DMA imposes dos and don’ts on gatekeepers that provide ‘core platform services’. Both Acts have the potential to be a blueprint for regulation and competition across online platforms.”

Thirty-eight months after the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia, rights organisations reiterate that a fully independent and transparent public inquiry is key to achieving justice for Daphne’s assassination and ensuring that this will never happen again.

Civil society groups belonging to the Freedom of Expression Cluster said the Legal Defence Fund was launched in response to the worsening attacks on journalists, human rights defenders, and activists in 2020.

Ola Bini is a computer expert and human rights defender recognized worldwide, who is facing a political-judicial process in Ecuador since April 2019. Ecuadorian and international civil society organizations set up a mission to observe the preparatory hearing and trial evaluation of December 3rd, 2020.

As democracy and the rule of law come increasingly under pressure in a number of EU countries, the undersigned organisations call on EU policymakers to urgently put forward an EU anti-SLAPP Directive to protect public watchdogs that help hold the powerful to account and keep democratic debate alive.

Amidst an escalating crackdown on civil society and freedom of expression, the European Parliament adopted an urgency resolution calling attention to the rapid deterioration of civic space and fundamental freedoms in the country.