Category: Censorship

CoE Urged to Stop Countries Abusing Pandemic to Curb Freedoms

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Singling out Hungary, Slovenia and the Czech Republic as especially worrying examples, ten human rights organisations including Index on Censorship and Reporters Without Borders have written to the Council of Europe and other official bodies, urging them to address the danger of governments misusing the coronavirus crisis to pursue authoritarian policies.

“Several governments across Europe are already using the pandemic to claim extraordinary powers that can undermine democratic institutions, including the free press,” the organisations said. “We believe that some Council of Europe Member States are at risk of derogating from the European Convention on Human Rights,” they noted.

Among the concerns expressed in the letter is an emergency law that aims to tackle false information by penalties of up to five years in jail, limits to press conferences introduced in several countries and an outright ban on them in Slovenia and the Czech Republic. “Such measures must not be allowed to restrict media scrutiny of governments,” the ten organisations say.

They say governments across the world have pushed the boundaries of what they are allowed to do during the COVID-19 crisis, adopting measures including the almost unchecked use of private data collected by mobile phone networks and, in some cases, use of facial recognition surveillance systems that were allegedly conceived before the crisis to tackle dissident activity.

“Our organisations are concerned about the effects of enhanced surveillance measures introduced to monitor the spread of the virus,” the letter said.

“While we recognise the potential benefits in terms of combating the spread of the virus, the use of surveillance must have proper oversight and be clearly limited to tackling the pandemic,” it added.

The letter has been signed by ARTICLE 19, the Association of European Journalists, AEJ, the Committee to Protect Journalists, CPJ, the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom, ECPMF, the European Federation of Journalists, EFJ, the Free Press Unlimited, FPU, Index on Censorship, the International Federation of Journalists, IFJ, International Press Institute, IPI and Reporters Without Borders, RSF.

The letter was published on the Council of Europe website.

Serbian Govt Takes Control of Information Flow About Pandemic

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All local crisis headquarters and medical institutions in Serbia must send any information about the coronavirus pandemic to the central Crisis Staff led by Prime Minister Ana Brnabic – which will then inform the public about anything regarding COVID-19, the government in Belgrade has decided.

“Mayors and municipal presidents and emergency staffs of local government units are obliged to direct all information regarding the condition and consequences of COVID-19 … exclusively to the [national] Crisis Staff, which will carry out the necessary checks and take appropriate measures to inform the public in a timely and accurate manner,” the decision taken on Sunday says.

“Information on health measures taken and other information related to the treatment of COVID-19 … given to the public by unauthorized persons cannot be considered accurate and verified,” the government added by way of explanation, going on to warn of the “possibility of applying regulations relating to liability and legal consequences for the spread of misinformation in a state of emergency.”

As a result, local crisis headquarters in Serbia may no longer inform local communities of developments directly. Media outlets on Tuesday were also notified that they will no longer can get information from local authorities directly.

Dejan Kovacevic, president of the municipality of Gornji Milanovac, told a press conference that while he understood the new rules, local government units will still hold press conferences “as needed about what they have done, and are doing, to mitigate the spread of the virus.

Some NGOs in Serbia have voiced unease with the move to control the flow of information, saying that the solution is not in line with the advice of United Nations experts, or of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who has called for journalists to be allowed to work without obstacles “in order to provide citizens with access to key information”.

Serbia imposed state of emergency on March 15. By April 1, 23 people had died from complications caused by COVID-19 and 900 cases of infection were confirmed in total.

Romania’s State of Emergency Raises Media Freedom Concerns

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The Centre for Independent Journalism, CJI, an NGO that promotes media freedom and good practices in journalism, has raised concern that provisions enacted as part of the state of emergency to combat the spread of the coronavirus in Romania could hamper journalists’ ability to inform the public.

“The most worrying aspect of all this is, from my perspective, the limitations to the access to information of public interest,” Cristina Lupu, executive director of the CJI, told BIRN.

“The lack of transparency of the authorities is a very bad sign and the biggest problem our media is confronting now,” said Lupu, adding that this has negative consequences for the public “who don’t have access to information on time”.

Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis declared a state of emergency across the country on March 16.

The measure, which will be in force for 30 days and can be extended with the approval of parliament, has raised concerns that it might be used to keep information secret.

One of its provisions gives the government power to remove from the public arena information considered to be false, a prerogative that authorities have used in at least three time since March 16.

Although the news sites and articles that were targeted were clearly false, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, OSCE, warned on Monday about the emergency powers “the removal of reports and entire websites, without providing appeal or redress mechanisms”.

“I share the preoccupation of the Romanian authorities to combat the dissemination of false information related to the health crisis,” the OSCE’s media freedom representative, Harlem Desir, said in a statement.

“However, at the same time, I want to recall the importance of ensuring the free flow of information, which is a key component for providing the public with information on the vital measures needed to contain the virus, as well as the respect for the right of the media to report on the pandemic and governmental policies,” he added.

The OSCE warned of the risk posed by the fact that the government can decide what is fake news and what is legitimate reporting, and that the special extended powers granted under the state of emergency could be used to unduly restrict the work of journalists.

The CJI has started a project called The Newsroom Diary to allow journalists to air “frustrations” about working under the state of emergency.

The lack of responses from official institutions is one of the most common challenges reported in the diary, which is published daily on the CIJ Facebook page. The time in which institutions are obliged to answer requests from journalists has doubled under the state of emergency.

Battling Coronavirus, Moldova Targets Unwanted Media ‘Opinion’

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A short-lived order for media in Moldova to refrain from printing or broadcasting ‘opinion’ and to convey only the position of authorities during a state of emergency imposed to aid the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic has set alarm bells ringing in the former Soviet republic.

The decree was issued on March 24 by Dragos Vicol, president of Moldova’s Audiovisual Council, CCA, the country’s chief media regulatory body, but it was met with a storm of criticism from journalists and media associations.

“Journalists will unilaterally renounce formulating their own opinion or other arbitrary opinions in reflecting on topics concerning the COVID-19 pandemic,” the order read.

The following day, Vicol tried to defend the order, saying it referred only to “unqualified opinion”. The media, he told the TVR broadcaster, should get their information from the World Health Organisation, WHO-approved sites, the government and the health ministry, “not from persons who bear no responsibility.”

His order followed weeks of government criticism of the way Moldovan media have been covering the unfolding crisis, with pro-Russian President Igor Dodon, Prime Minister Ion Chicu and Health Minister Viorica Dumbraveanu repeatedly accusing journalists of printing unverified information and spreading panic.

On March 23, Dodon said Moldovan media were trying “to make a show” of the health situation in Moldova, Europe’s poorest state.

Chicu, the PM, initially endorsed Vicol’s order, while stressing the authorities had no intention of restricting the freedom of the press.


The President of Moldova Igor Dodon (C) speaks with Prime Minister Ion Chicu (R) and Parliament Speaker Zinaida Greceanii (L) about the Coronavirus threat and the measures taken to stop its spread in Moldova. Photo: EPA/Doru Dumitru

But media NGOs and associations were unbowed, and launched a petition calling for the order to be withdrawn. The authorities are concealing information from the public, the director of the Independent Press Association, Petru Macovei, told BIRN, “This is why people need to be informed because quality information is an important point in tackling the pandemic.”

Dodon, who will bid for a second term in an election set for November, eventually distanced himself from the decree. Vicol rescinded it on March 26 “to calm spirits in the society,” but its main provisions will still be discussed during an upcoming session of the CCA.

‘Dangerous precedent’

Regardless of Dodon’s U-turn, media experts said it was unlikely Vicol acted of his accord in issuing the order in the first place.

“I believe that Vicol’s decision was requested by the authorities,” said Cornelia Cozonac, director of the Centre for Investigative Journalism in Chisinau.

Primul in Moldova rebroadcasts content from Russia’s state-owned Channel One.

Vicol’s order stressed that foreign broadcasters in Moldova must also obey the new rules, citing in particular the broadcasting regulator in Romania’s Moldova’s western neighbour and a member of the European Union. It made no mention of the Russian media outlets which hold a large share of the Moldovan market.

 

Aneta Gonta, director of the School of Advanced Journalism Studies in Chisinau, said Vicol’s order should be seen in the context of the pandemic and as “a call for media responsibility and compliance with the law, but also with the Code of Ethics.”

 

But its ban on ‘opinion’, she said, was offensive to medical professionals and others who may have something constructive to say on the issue.

 

Ion Manole, director of the Chisinau-based human rights NGO Promo-LEX, said the pandemic presented the authorities with a powerful temptation to censor the media.

 

“I hope that with this failed attempt such steps will no longer be recorded,” Manole said. “We have a society that has already tasted democracy and I think it will not easily give up on this freedom so hard won in recent years.”

Hungarian Coronavirus Bill Will Have “Chilling Effect” on Media

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Rights groups warn that legislation submitted to the Hungarian parliament, giving the government of Viktor Orban unprecedented power of decree in the fight against COVID-19, would have a “chilling effect” on independent media in the country.

The ‘Bill on Protection against Coronavirus’ was submitted by Orban’s government with the justification that it must be free to act without consulting parliament to confront a virus that has so far, officially, infected at least 261 people in Hungary.

The bill submitted last week amends rules under a state of emergency to give the government the power to rule by decree and suspend any existing law. It would permanently amend the criminal law to introduce punishment of one to five years in prison for anyone convicted of spreading “falsehood” or “distorted truth” deemed to obstruct efforts to combat the pandemic.

No elections or referenda can be held for the duration of the state of emergency and only the government or a two-thirds majority in parliament can lift it. Orban’s right-wing Fidesz party holds such a supermajority.

The Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, HCLU, an NGO, warned of a devastating effect on Hungarian media after years of Fidesz rule during which right groups say the government has dismantled media freedoms and pluralism.  

“Once the legislation enters into force, it could have a chilling effect, and its timing and social context could lead to self-censorship among journalists,” the group said.

The way the bill is worded means someone could be prosecuted for ‘obstructing’ any number of government measures – from healthcare to education, border control and the economy – justified by the fight against COVID-19.

HCLU cautioned in particular that the term ‘distorted’ could be interpreted in a range of ways by the courts and “could be applicable even to someone who disputes the credibility of official statements.” Entire outlets face being shut down if police seize servers as evidence.

‘Dictatorial powers’

Media pluralism has been in decline for years in Hungary, with pro-government outlets now dominating the media landscape.

“Orban’s terrible track record on press freedom creates the suspicion that the law is aimed at the last remnants of an independent press in Hungary,” Kim Lane Scheppele, an expert on authoritarian regimes at Princeton University, wrote on March 21.

The bill would give Orban “dictatorial powers”, she wrote, and “end the appearance of constitutional and democratic government.”

On Monday, the opposition in parliament blocked a government move to pass the bill in an urgent procedure, but Fidesz is expected to push it through next week using its two-thirds supermajority.

A spokesman for the European Commission declined to comment on the bill directly, but noted that “all emergency measures should be temporary in nature and address a particular crisis situation.”

“Democracy cannot work without free and independent media,” said the spokesman, Christian Wigand. “In times of crisis it is more important than ever that journalists can do their job properly, precisely so to avoid disinformation.”

The European Parliament also expressed concern.

Any extraordinary measures during a pandemic “should always ensure that fundamental rights, rule of law and democratic principles are protected,” Juan Fernando López Aguilar, chair of the parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee, said in a statement.

Aguilar called on the Commission to look at whether the bill “complies with the values enshrined in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union and to remind member states of their responsibility to respect and protect these common values.”

In a letter to Orban, Council of Europe Secretary General Marija Pejcinovic Buric said that an indefinite and uncontrolled state of emergency “cannot guarantee that the basic principles of democracy will be observed and that the emergency measures restricting fundamental human rights are strictly proportionate to the threat which they are supposed to counter.”

“…democratic debate in national parliaments, in the media and the internet, as well as access to official information and documents are essential elements of any free and democratic order and of particular importance in crisis situations to maintain trust and confidence within society,” she wrote.

Croatian Proposal to Track Self-Isolating Citizens Alarms Critics

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As Croatian MPs discussed a proposed law amendment, that would allow authorities easier access to citizens’ information amid the ongoing coronavirus epidemic, opposition lawmakers warned that it could limit citizens’ rights to freedom of movement and their privacy.

Last week, the government, led by the conservative Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ, proposed a change of the Electronic Communications Act under which, in extraordinary situations, the health minister would ask telecommunications companies to provide data on the locations of users’ terminal equipment.

While MPs accept that the aim of the proposal is legitimate – to control people prescribed self-isolation, due to numerous violations of such orders – many of them complained that the government did not elaborate the proposal clearly, or with enough safeguards.

Social Democrat MPs and some other parliamentary groups have submitted an amendment seeking more clarity about who can be monitored, how long the surveillance will last, and what authorities will do with the data they collect. They also said the subject of monitoring must be regularly informed that he or she is under surveillance.

On Wednesday, Ombudsperson Lora Vidovic suggested amendments to the proposal, urging that the restriction should apply only “to narrow, clearly and precisely defined situations, only when the health and lives of citizens could not otherwise be effectively protected.

“Clear criteria should be explicitly defined in the law, which will ensure the implementation of this measure over precisely defined categories of citizens, for example, those who have determined self-isolation by the competent authorities,” Vidovic said in a press release.

MPs are also debating whether such a law changes could be passed by an urgent procedure in parliament, as the government wants, or by a simple majority of MPs, or whether a two-thirds majority is needed, as restrictions of such rights are a constitutional matter.

Article 17 of the constitution states that “individual constitutionally guaranteed freedoms and rights may [only] be restricted during a state of war or any clear and present danger to the independence and unity of the Republic of Croatia or in the event of any natural disaster”.

Under the constitution, imposing such restrictions must be decided by a two-thirds majority of all members of parliament.

However, MPs will not vote on the issue on Wednesday since the speaker, Gordan Jandrokovic, has announced that he will first seek the opinion of the Constitutional Court on the proposed “restricting of citizens’ freedoms”, which he said, were only introduced to protect citizens against coronavirus infection.

Moldova Authorities Accused of Lacking Transparency About Pandemic

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Media NGOs in Moldova signed a common protest on Sunday, accusing the authorities of lacking transparency about the scale of the coronavirus pandemic in the country.

“Non-governmental organisations in the media ask the state authorities and institutions to ensure correct and professional collaboration with media institutions, refraining from unfounded accusations and insinuations against journalists who request public interest information to inform objectively and completely,” the petition signed by eight media NGOs says.

It comes after two cases of infected doctors from different hospitals were reported on March 19 and March 22. The authorities did not confirm them in the first phase, however. Only media outlets reported about them.

The authorities have also avoided giving out precise data on medical supply stocks and specific numbers related to the pandemic.

“They have blamed the press for criticism but, in fact, they do not offer complete information about the epidemiological crisis … The Prime Minister and President have responded harshly to reactions of media outlets who were trying to find out more information,” Cornelia Cozonac, director of the Centre for Investigative Journalism in Moldova, told BIRN.

She said journalists are forbidden to ask live questions during press briefings on the pandemic, and even those who are allowed to ask written questions do not get straight answers.

“It is not normal in this crisis. The authorities need to be much more open because they are asking citizens to cooperate as well. We, as journalists, want the authorities to be responsible, and to provide as accurate information as possible and to answer journalists’ questions to better inform the citizens,” she added.

Moldovan media have called on the authorities to at least organise video conferences with free Q&A sessions. No response has come as yet to this suggestion.

On March 19, the authorities opened a free online platform to present the numbers of infected cases in every district of the country, but on Monday, after the technical suspension of the website, it required a user and password.

President Igor Dodon on Monday at a press briefing accused some media of trying to “make a show” about the public health situation in Moldova.

“For some media sources that lately are trying to speculate and get things out of context – when I said there are 2,000 places ready [in hospitals], then that means there are that many. When we said that there are only 500 [ventilator] machines in Chisinau, someone tried to interpret that as are only 500 [bed] places. It is not correct. Of 94 [coronavirus] cases, only two needed these devices,” he said.

Both Dodon and Prime Minister Ion Chicu and his communication team have repeatedly accused the media of not properly informing the population.

However, on March 16, when an entire village was put under quarantine after the authorities held elections in the Hincesti district, amid the pandemic, the media only found that out by itself.

Hungarian Editors Need Permission to Report on ‘Sensitive’ Topics

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The Brussels-based website Politico has obtained several internal emails that confirm the long-suspected growth of censorship in Hungary’s state media. 

State-owned outlets have a big role in the Hungarian media, as they include several TV and radio stations and MTI, the only Hungarian news agency.

According to the leaked emails, state media bosses need special permission from “higher above” to report on topics like Greta Thunberg, the teenage Swedish climate activist. 

Reports on several other “sensitive” topics, such as migration, European terrorism, Brussels, church issues and on parliamentary, presidential and local elections in the “EU+” (member states and neighboring countries) also need to be sent for final approval. 

Journalists in the state media don’t know who makes the final decisions on the articles whose subject matter is on the list, Politico says.

The emails obtained by the outlet date from the second half of October 2019 and are signed by senior editors of the state media. One of them is Sándor Végh. 

The emails appear to focus on news coverage. Emails also confirm that several topics were banned explicitly from mention in the Hungarian state media – as it was reported previously by Népszava, a Hungarian daily. 

Journalists are not allowed to report on Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, NGOs that are critical of the Hungarian government’s politics, especially its hostile policies on refugees and migrants.

It also turned out that reporting on Thunberg is not always allowed. An email that ordered staffers to ask permission to report on her was sent on August 14, when the activist started her trip to New York to speak at the United Nations. Hungarian state media did not publish anything about Thunberg’s trip.

The World Press Freedom Index compiled by the media watchdog Reporters Without Borders classifies Hungary’s media as only “partly free”. The country is now ranked in 87th place, and the pressure on the free press is clearly getting stronger. Last year Hungary was 73rd on the list, while in 2010, when the current government gained power, it ranked in 23rd place.

Serbia’s Independent N1 Portal Buffeted by Cyber-Attacks

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N1 said the latest attacks happened last Thursday when a paid DDoS strike from China hit the Serbian website twice that day.

The attacks started on Tuesday and continued on Wednesday afternoon. The second attack was five times stronger, with up to 300,000 access requests hitting the portal server a second.

The Independent Association of Serbian Journalists, NUNS, urged Serbia’s High-tech Crime Prosecutor to urgently discover who was behind the attacks.  

They come after a row erupted between the owner of the N1, United Group, and state-owned Telekom Srbija over broadcasting rights. 

After the two sides failed to reach a deal, Telekom stopped airing N1’s programmes, causing a stir among the general public and the media community as N1 is among the few remaining independent TV channels in the country. 

Luxembourg-based United Group claimed the real reason for the shutdown was political pressure and an attempt to silence government critics and the free media. 

But Telekom Serbia denied this, arguing that an agreement was not reached because United Group proposed an extension agreement that was not in line with Serbian legislation. 

Support for N1 has meanwhile come from the European Federation of Journalists. “We see the state-owned cable operator’s decision to drop N1 TV as an attempt to silence a critical voice in Serbia,” it said. 

Several recent reports have highlighted the lack of media freedom and pluralism in the Serbia, where the media is now largely controlled by the government, it allies or its proxies. 

According to the latest annual report by the rights organisation Human Rights Watch, Serbian journalists continue to face attacks and threats, while media plurality has become compromised, with most media now aligned to the ruling party.

Pro-government media outlets frequently smear independent outlets and journalists, describing them as “traitors” and “foreign mercenaries”, the same report noted.

A recent report by Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism and the University of Oxford said the future of the independent media in Southeast Europe remained uncertain as a result of political hostility and ownership concentration under politically connected moguls.

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