"Analysis of media in Albania and mapping of main trends through credible, regular, and complete data is a problematic endeavour. However, the data available show that it is safe to say that challenges for professional journalism remain formidable in Albania. Full formality of the media market has n
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ot been achieved, especially regarding online media, and to some degree print media. In addition, problems related to labour relations of media employees are still visible. Along with the interdependence of media owners from political and business interests, this certainly conditions the freedom of journalists to be independent and not to censor themselves accordingly.
Increasingly fewer students are choosing journalism and communication degrees, even though the number of online media seems to be increasing, at least where the online media are concerned. The concentration of major media groups owning several types of media outlets and the blurring of boundaries between new and traditional media in their staff and content production does not make it easy to see a visible trend in terms of journalists’ statistics. However, it is clear that there is considerable market pressure to follow similar trends in reporting and format in the main media outlets, including prioritizing speed of publication and sensationalism over professional standards and ethics. Efforts to self-regulate exist, but it is too early to see an impact in this respect." (Executive summary)
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"Drawing on a broad range of case studies across the continent, the volume considers what constitutes communication rights in Africa, who should protect them, against whom, and how communication rights relate to broader human rights. While the case studies highlight the variation in communicative ri
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ghts experiences between countries, they also coalesce around common tropes and practices for the implementation and expression of communication rights. Deploying a variety of innovative theoretical and methodological approaches, the chapters scrutinise different facets of communication rights in the context of both offline and digital communication realities. The contributions provide illuminating accounts on language rights, digital exclusion, digital activism, citizen journalism, media regulation and censorship, protection of intellectual property rights, politics of mobile data, and politicisation of social media." (Publisher description)
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"Die beschriebene Quellenlage stellt auch für die Länderanalyse eine Herausforderung dar. Afghanische Medien geben einen guten Überblick darüber, wie die Taliban sich präsentieren möchten. Auch neue Verordnungen und Erlasse der Zentralregierung sind so nachvollziehbar. Dies gilt jedoch nicht f
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ür die Situation in den Provinzen, aus denen es nur sporadische Berichte gibt. Afghanische Medien mit Sitz im Ausland geben auch vereinzelte Einblicke in Vorfälle von Gewalt und Verfolgung. Manchmal können internationale Medien zusätzliche Informationen liefern. Soziale Medien liefern Hinweise auf Protestbewegungen und selten auch Informationen zu Verfolgung und bewaffneten Auseinandersetzungen. Diese Informationen werden auf Grund der fehlenden Möglichkeit zur Verifizierung jedoch nur genutzt, wenn sie nach der Einordnung in die allgemeine Lage plausibel erscheinen. Insgesamt findet ein regelmäßiger Abgleich mit Berichten von internationalen Organisationen und deren Einschätzungen der Situation in Afghanistan statt. Nichtsdestotrotz ist die Informationslage zu allen oben genannten „unerwünschten Themen“ unverändert als sehr schlecht einzuschätzen." (Fazit, Seite 6)
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"This article examines Russia’s practice of the ban introduced by the so-called ‘fake news laws’ during the war against Ukraine. It blends doctrinal legal with discourse analysis to study how and why Russian courts have applied the laws, which epistemology of knowledge they have constructed wh
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ile limiting fake news about the war and what implications this has for freedom of expression and public debate of the war within Russia. The dataset covers 446 Russian court decisions from 2022 to 2023. A historical approach is utilised to discuss the results in connection to the Soviet Communist ideology. The article argues that Russian courts have used the laws to make truth in Russia conditional and loyalty unconditional, actualising the Soviet principles of ‘partyness’, ‘objectivity’ and ‘scientificalness’. It demonstrates how courts construct a mythologised reality about the ‘imaginary’ ‘military operation’ to help the government monopolise the public debate and misrepresent the war against Ukraine within Russia." (Abstract)
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"Columbia Global Freedom of Expression seeks to strengthen freedom of expression worldwide by advancing the understanding of international and national norms and institutions that best protect the free flow of information and expression in an interconnected global community. We do so by sharing know
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ledge and standards through our Global Database of Freedom of Expression Case Law and by fostering dialogue among domestic, regional, international courts and other important stakeholders responsible for protecting freedom of expression." (Mission)
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"This edition of the Special Collection on the Case Law of Freedom of Expression: Case law on content moderation and freedom of expression is an update of the 2023 Special Collection on content moderation and freedom of expression. It includes cases that have been added to the database in the period
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from July 2023 to August 2024. These new cases include jurisprudence from Brazil, regional European courts, Germany, Japan, India, Italy, the Netherlands, and the United States of America. The cases show a variety of court decisions on content moderation in different parts of the world. In particular, many new decisions about the moderation of (health) misinformation were added to the database. Thus, a new section dedicated to claims requesting the reinstatement of content or accounts, that were removed for allegedly violating misinformation policies, was added (Section II.1.c). Certainly, content moderation reflects current tensions in society. For example, most of the misinformation cases that deal with the falsehood of objective information concern health information during the COVID-19 pandemic. Cases about wrong—and often defamatory—information about individuals are not classified as “misinformation” cases for the purposes of this paper. They are part of a more general section about the removal or reinstatement of content, considering they are at the core of what content moderation has been dealing with for decades. While the law of many jurisdictions around the world penalizes defamation to some (strongly varying) degree, the issue of whether “merely” objectively wrong information should be unlawful is more contested. Thus, the balancing exercises of courts around the world—when dealing with private content moderation decisions in this realm—provide valuable insights." (Introduction)
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"Free journalism is indispensable for monitoring the actions of political representation, holding it accountable, exposing the misuse of power, and defending public interests. Fulfilling these roles assumes that journalists can do their job and pursue public-interest stories to the best of their abi
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lities without fear of retaliation. In this chapter, building on the Media Pluralism Monitor data, we discuss the key issues of concern related to the journalists' safety, focusing on the attacks in the offline and online environment and the political elite's hostile criticism of the media. We analyse these issues in the context of Greece, Slovakia, and Spain, which share several common features regarding their media environment. Yet, these countries differ in risks to journalists' safety. We find, however, that despite different risk levels, the safety of journalists has been deteriorating in all three countries over the years. These findings have important implications for policymakers." (Abstract)
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"This volume presents an analytical and empirical overview of the array of issues that the Mexican media faces in the post-authoritarian age, which jointly explains how a partially accomplished democracy, its authoritarian inertias, and its unintended consequences hinder the democratic performance o
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f the media. This is analyzed from three points of view: the stalemate Mexican media system and ineffective regulations, the conditions of risk and insecurity of the journalists on the field, and the limits of freedom of expression, political substance, and inclusiveness of media content. A binational effort, with research from US and Mexican authors, a wide analytic perspective is provided on the macro, meso, and micro levels, allowing for a deep conceptual richness and a comprehensive understanding of the Mexican case. With leading researchers in the field, the volume revolves around the problems of the media in post-authoritarian democracies. By answering the questions of how and why the Mexican media has not fully democratized, the works encompassed here can resonate with and are relevant to other post-authoritarian countries and academic disciplines." (Publisher description)
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"For Russian civil society as well as for Western reporting independent exiled media are playing a central role: These media are a unique and precious voice that can still make its way to Russian audiences. They are also the foundation of Western reporting on Russia – without them, many internatio
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nal media would struggle to keep up with what is happening in the secretive state. Indeed, recognizing this, they are eager to partner with Russian colleagues on especially high-impact stories: intelligence or disinformation operations in the West, for example. While Russian authorities are building a toolbox for censorship – not just for themselves, but for despotic regimes across the world – Russian exiled media are investing in anti-censorship technologies to fight it. Despite their comparatively small resources and size, they have developed a wide range of innovative digital solutions – from blocking resilient magic links to browser extensions that counter YouTube slowdowns [...] With just a fraction of the budget being spent to silence them, Russia’s exiled independent media have shown that they can not just withstand the new censorship regime, but also to create tools and blueprints that can serve their colleagues in other parts of the world. But they remain vulnerable, and deserve both more stable support and support from a wider range of stakeholders – including Big Tech companies. This report presents the state of the Russian media market as it enters a new, even darker phase, as well as an overview of the media that are fighting back. Hopefully, it can serve to re-energize support, rather than simply serving as a warning of potentially far more serious – and costly – challenges to come if the issues are not addressed now." (Page 1)
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"This chapter has shown the positive relationship and virtuous circle between domestic authorities and international bodies that strengthens the protection of human rights by highlighting progress on two issues within the right to freedom of expression: criminalization and access to information. Ele
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ven countries have repealed desacato laws, nine countries have limited the use of criminal law in cases of criticism leveled against public officials, and more than twenty- four countries have recognized the right of access to information. These evolving inter- American standards on freedom of expression seem to have been consolidated into ICCAL. This chapter does not mean to suggest that progress is necessarily constant or permanent. The right to freedom of expression has encountered strong opposition in countries such as Venezuela. There have already been significant setbacks in freedom of expression in Latin America and rising authoritarianism in the region has created additional threats to this right. Notwithstanding those challenges, there is no doubt that the relationship between the Inter- American System and domestic legal systems, including constitutional courts, has generated a transformation in international law and constitutional law across the region. Although we might not expect to see major advances in freedom of expression in the coming years, due to the challenge of rising authoritarianism, we do know that in States in which the judiciary continues to enjoy sufficient autonomy inter- American standards have curbed authoritarian attacks on individual rights. International standards lend domestic courts the legitimacy they need to rebuff authoritarian advances in contexts of political polarization." (Concluding remarks, pp. 493-494)
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"Drawing from case studies from selected African countries, an international team of authors offer a broad insight into the state of harassment across the continent, while building new theoretical perspectives that are also context-specific. The chapters bring previous theories and research up to da
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te by addressing the continual change and development of new discourses, including the use of big data and artificial intelligence in harassing and intimidating journalists and mental health issues affecting journalists in their line of duty. More so, the authors argue that the state and form of harassment is not universal, as location and context are some of the key factors that influence the form and character of harassment." (Publisher description)
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"The right of journalists to work in a secure environment, without being intimidated, harassed, attacked, abused or murdered, is of fundamental importance to freedom of expression globally. Yet, in many countries around the world, journalism has become a deadly occupation and those who practise it o
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ften risk their lives to inform the public. This is especially the case for investigative reporters whose work is vital for the functioning of democratic societies. This chapter examines the main challenges that investigative reporters face by focusing on three case studies that illustrate the threats to safe journalism practice and the broad impact of violence and impunity for crimes against journalists on press freedom." (Abstract)
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