Abstract
Threats to press freedom in Europe are rife.
The law, which proposes “several threats” to press freedom, was amended by the government after Index, along with other leading human rights groups, urged members of parliament to consider its impact on freedom of expression.
Of special concern to Hyvarinen are the new special security measures, which give police powers to stop, search and detain at borders.
“Those powers are very intrusive, and the protection for journalists and confidential sources are very inadequate,” she said.
“One positive thing is that the government has committed to an independent review of the Prevent programme, which is supposed to help vulnerable people who are at risk of radicalisation.”
This programme introduced legal requirements for institutions such as the National Health Service, schools and councils to report suspected terrorists. However, it has come under criticism for targeting Muslims.
Challenges to press freedom are not restricted to the UK. Index has been tracking press violations across Europe over the last four and a half years as part of its Mapping Media Freedom project. This quarter MMF published three new reports detailing numerous attacks on journalists in EU member states.
Assistant editor Paula Kennedy said: “In France, journalists covering gilets jaunes anti-government protests have been verbally abused, and in several cases physically assaulted, by demonstrators suspicious that the mainstream media are not sufficiently sympathetic to their cause.
“In Serbia, a government-backed news weekly mounted a sustained campaign of abuse directed at independent and critical journalists and media outlets, calling them ‘traitors and collaborators with the enemies of Serbia’.
“And in Poland, the public broadcaster TVP continued to present the news in a way designed to show the government in the most favourable light possible and to depict opponents of the government as lacking in patriotism.”
Kennedy warned that it was not only in eastern Europe where threats to media freedom were prevalent, emphasising how incursions in Malta were further undermining press freedom.
“The investigative journalism outlet The Shift recently came under a sustained cyberattack after it published a series of revelations about apparently dubious deals concluded by the Maltese government with healthcare providers,” she said.
Sean Gallagher, head of content at Index, recently spoke to students from Cardiff and Fordham universities about media freedom. He believes it is vital for students to know about what Index does.
He said: “It’s important for students to understand the implications of freedom of speech in an academic environment and how, through freedom of speech, the ideas and materials that they are evaluating throughout their education can be critiqued and learned from.
“A lot of what is happening on campus is actually academic freedom. It’s debating, people stating their point of view. I don’t see that being in and of itself a crisis.
“I think the way it is interpreted by segments of the press - manipulated, blown up and used to bludgeon students who are on one end of the political spectrum versus the other, and to dismiss them as snowflakes or to say that they stifle free speech - that is the problem.”
The new youth advisory board. From left to right (clockwise): Gunyeop Lee, South Korea; Melat Eskender, USA; Emma Quaedvlieg, Serbia; Arpitha Desai, India; Melissa Zisengwe, Zimbabwe; Kate Nicholson, UK; Anh Nguyen, Vietnam; and Oliver Jones, UK
CREDIT: Lewis Jennings
Helen Galliano, head of strategic events and partnerships at Index, believes freedom is a subject not discussed enough.
She ran a day-long programme called Unspeakable, which focused on censorship, at the Essex Book Festival for its 20th anniversary in March 2019 at the University of Essex.
She said: “It’s opening up the conversation and debate, and this is very much bringing it to students’ doorsteps to get them involved in important conversations.”
In the past quarter, the Index team spoke on panels around the world and Index held its own events, too. The magazine launch took the form of a debate at Foyles bookshop, in London. The topic was taboos surrounding birth, marriage and death. More than 100 people came to the event and the speakers, including Irish author Emilie Pine and Chinese novelist Xinran, talked about things that women around the world have often found impossible to discuss – from stillborn children in Ireland to the one-child policy in China.
Index is also debating freedom of expression issues with young people around the world through its youth advisory board, which recently appointed nine representatives aged between 16 and 25. They meet monthly online.
Members come from countries including India, Serbia, South Korea and the USA. Topics addressed so far include the future of community journalism and limitations to media freedom.
One member, Melissa Zisengwe, a Zimbabwean journalist, talked about constraints on the media in South Africa. She said: “The minister of communications prevented some journalists from covering protests that were happening outside an event held by the political party in charge of South Africa right now.
“In a democracy, no minister should be able to prevent journalists from doing their jobs because there is no democracy without a free media [or] where journalists cannot do their jobs.”
Index’s Freedom of Expression Awards will take place at a ceremony held in The May Fair Hotel, London, on 4 April 2019.
The awards, which are entering their 19th year, celebrate the extraordinary courage and creativity of some of the world’s greatest journalists, artists, campaigners and digital activists.
Head of advocacy Joy Hyvarinen attends the Cartooning Global Forum 2018
CREDIT: Cartooning Global Forum 2018/House of Unesco/Agence Si, Paris
This year, Index received more than 250 nominations, with 15 making the final shortlist in arts, campaigning, digital activism and journalism categories.
Nominees include El Madina, a group of Egyptian artists combining art and protest; Media Rights Agenda who campaign for media freedom in Nigeria; Zehra Dogan, a Kurdish painter who produced art behind bars (she has now been released); Ms. Saffaa whose murals highlight women’s rights and human rights violations in Saudi Arabia; and Cameroonian journalist Mimi Mefo. The judges this year are award-winning investigative journalist Maria Ressa, actor Khalid Abdalla, social activist Nimco Ali and computer scientist Kate Devlin.
Perla Hinojosa, fellowships and advocacy officer at Index, said: “They are incredible individuals fighting against censorship and for freedom of expression. I encourage people to read and learn about them.
“Many times, there is a prestige which comes from just being nominated, but it also helps individuals to be just a little bit more safe because, wherever they are in their countries, people higher up will see that they have international recognition.”
The panel for the launch of our winter issue, featuring Irish author Emilie Pine; Bloody Good Periods’ founder Gabby Edlin; Chinese author Xinran and Index magazine editor Rachael Jolley
CREDIT: Sean Gallagher
Cartoonists Rights Network International is nominated in the arts category. The non-profit organisation monitors and protects the rights and creative freedom of political cartoonists around the globe.
Index caught up with CRNI board member Terry Anderson, a Scottish artist and caricaturist, to talk about the nomination and what this means for the organisation.
“What strikes me right away is the breadth of the list,” he said. “There is this insidious threat, this mounting trend towards authoritarian governments of every complexion that will only make life more difficult going forward for cartoonists.
“There’s no sign of that abating and, if anything, there are indications that it could get worse, so facing that kind of challenge we need allies.”
You can hear the full interview in a special edition of the Index on Censorship podcast covering the awards, which is available to download and stream on iTunes and Sound- Cloud from 11 April 2019.