Council of Europe Urges Media Freedom During COVID-19 Clampdowns
After an appeal by 10 human rights and journalists groups, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatović said countries using the COVID-19 Coronavirus crisis to try to rein in the press should reconsider.
Mijatović was sent a letter 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.
“Our organizations are concerned about the effects of enhanced surveillance measures introduced to monitor the spread of the virus,” the letter said, according to Balkan Insight, which also reported campaigners warned media freedom could be curbed in Romania by State-of-Emergency provisions. These might be used to close websites that publish fake news and exempt officials from answering journalists’ questions.
“While we recognize 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,” the groups said.
Mijatović’s call for journalists not to be muzzled for reporting on COVID-19 responses was advisory and came as a Council report said media freedom in Bulgaria deteriorated over a concentration of media ownership and political interference with editorial independence. It was Hungarian Premier Viktor Orban being given rule by decree to stop elections and step up his campaign of trying to silence the media that was most alarming as he was accused of using the pandemic to take near-total control.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen threatened Hungary with legal proceedings over the COVID-19 laws that give Orban power with no end date and told the German newspaper Bild am Sonntag that “measures have to be proportionate, within a limited time period and democratically controlled.
"The groups also noted Slovenia and the Czech Republic as worrying examples of attempts to clamp down on media freedom, governments there using the fight against COVID-19 to also consolidate their power more. They said those countries “are already using the pandemic to claim extraordinary powers that can undermine democratic institutions, including the free press. We believe that some Council of Europe Member States are at risk of derogating from the European Convention on Human Rights.”
Mijatović added, “In Armenia, a number of newspapers and websites had to delete some information, following the adoption of strict rules prohibiting the publication of information of a medical and epidemiological nature about the virus outbreak which is not fully consistent with official sources.”
“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; this is a counterproductive approach that must stop,” she said.