The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) strongly rejected the position of the Council of the EU on the proposed European Media Freedom Act.
The new legislation deals “a blow to media freedom,” the EFJ said in a statement on Wednesday, arguing that such legislation would “put journalists and their sources even more at risk.” “European Union Member States want to authorise the spying of journalists and their sources on vague grounds of “national security,” according to the statement.
The Council of the EU which represents the 27 EU government reached today an agreement on the European Media Freedom Act, a legislation proposed by the European Commission in September 2022 with the intention to introduce safeguards against political interference in the media, media concentration, and to protect journalists and their sources against surveillance.
However, earlier this month, France introduced a new exception to the general ban on deploying spyware against journalists.
It reads that the provisions on effective protection of journalistic sources “is without prejudice to the Member States’ responsibility for safeguarding national security”.
The EFJ said it strongly opposes this exception, which goes against the very purpose of the legislation and would open the door to all kinds of abuse.
“We are disturbed about the dangerous loopholes in the Council’s position, which shows a disregard for media freedom principles. The national security exception in article 4 on the protection of sources and protection from surveillance technology is a blow to media freedom,” commented EFJ Director Renate Schroeder.
The Brussels-based EFJ is the largest journalists’ organisation in Europe representing more than 320,000 journalists across 44 countries in Europe.
Source: Kuwait News Agency