TIRANA- “The global health problems caused by COVID-19 require effective measures to protect people’s health and lives. This includes combating disinformation that may cause panic and social unrest. Regrettably some governments are using this imperative as a pretext to introduce disproportionate restrictions to press freedom,” has said the Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatovic.
In a statement released by the press office of the Council of Europe on Friday she informed that parliaments, governments and local authorities had recently adopted legislation, decrees or decisions that clearly risk hampering the work of journalists and media actors restricting the public’s right to receive information.
The Commissioner mentioned cases in Hungary, the Russian Federation, Azerbaijan, Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Armenia where journalists are facing a variety of sanctions.
In the meantime, as Ms. Mijatovic said, in countries like Czech Republic, Serbia and Italy there have been reports of cases of journalists who were prevented from attending press conferences, obtaining information from health authorities or documenting the operations of law enforcement officials. In Turkey, several journalists were detained in reprisal for their reporting on COVID-19 while in Slovenia, a journalist who filed an information request about the measures adopted by the government to face the pandemic has been the target of a smear campaign by media close to the ruling political party.
“There is no doubt that governments are facing unprecedented challenges during this pandemic. This cannot however be an excuse to clamp down on the press and thus restrict people’s access to information,she said.
In conclusion the statement of the Commissioner Mijatovic urged all Council of Europe member states to preserve press and media freedom and ensure that measures to combat disinformation are necessary, proportionate and subject to regular oversight, including by Parliament and national human rights institutions. “Measures to combat disinformation must never prevent journalists and media actors from carrying out their work or lead to content being unduly blocked on the Internet,” she said./argumentum.al
