Already essentially shut out by a government that critics said has used the COVID-19 pandemic to stifle the press, 28 Hungarian media outlets demanded greater access to hospitals for journalists covering the crisis to report on a surge of cases and deaths. The request wasn’t granted.

Prosecutors on Sicily probing sea rescue groups and charities for alleged migrant smuggling were also wiretapping reporters to find their their sources, and tracked journalists movements on their phones, an Italian newspaper said.

She wouldn't name them – Malta and Slovakia – but European Commission Vice-President Vera Jourová said countries where journalists have been murdered must offer more protections, including against SLAPP suits aimed at silencing them.

Not running for re-election, her government engulfed in scandals and conflicts of interest around the purchase of COVID-19 masks, Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) is rewriting ethics rules.

EU Justice Commissioner Věra Jourová presents the launch of the CASE website, where individuals or organisations that have been victims of a SLAPP can register their case.

The European Union “made a horrible mistake in Europe by underestimating the role of media for upholding democracy,” European Commission Vice-President Věra Jourová said, citing the murders of journalists Daphne Caruana Galizia in Malta in 2017 and Ján Kuciak in Slovakia in 2018. Both probed high-level corruption.

The German Government is currently considering a first draft presented by the Ministry of Justice to transpose the EU Directive on Whistleblower Protection. Blueprint for Free Speech has analysed the draft law, which is still incomplete and should be improved further.

Proceedings resumed this morning in the case of Kumlin and another v Jonsson and others, which is considering if a suit against a Swedish publication for alleged libel should be held in London under English law.

London's High Court has heard that a £30m defamation claim should be dismissed as the claimant, a Swedish businessman, is engaged in “libel tourism,” rather than bringing his claim against Swedish journalists, over an article written in Sweden, before a Swedish court.

Cyber laws are being used to quash freedom of expression and pursue critical voices on social media and websites in Africa, South and South East Asia, and MENA countries, according to a new report by Blueprint and partner organisations.

Reacting to attacks and threats against journalists, the United Kingdom has put forth a national plan to protect them, with more reporting if they've been subject to online harassment as well.

Supporting secrecy for government agencies, US Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett – in her first majority opinion – led a 7-2 vote that will bar access under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).