This is how armed and masked Israeli soldiers raided Al Jazeera’s bureau in the occupied West Bank and imposed a 45-day closure order. The network has condemned the action as ‘criminal’ and an affront to press freedom.
Archiv: Pressefreiheit / freedom of the press
Dear High Representative / Vice-President Borrell and Executive Vice-President Dombrovskis,
(August 26, 2024)
Our organizations are writing to request that the European Union take action against the Israeli authorities’ unprecedented killing of journalists and other violations of media freedom, in contravention of Israel’s human rights and international humanitarian law (IHL) obligations. These are part of widespread and systematic abuses committed by Israeli authorities in Gaza, the West Bank, Israel, and elsewhere, as documented or acknowledged by Israeli, Palestinian and international NGOs, UN experts, the International Court of Justice, and in a request for arrest warrants by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. These violations should trigger the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement and further EU targeted
sanctions against those responsible. Regrettably, the EU 27 governments are yet to unanimously acknowledge, attribute, and condemn the Israeli forces’ crimes in Gaza.
RSF and 59 other organisations call on EU to suspend Association Agreement with Israel
“It is time to move from verbal condemnations to action. Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement stipulates that their relations are based on an essential component, which is respect for human rights and democratic principles. The Israeli government is clearly trampling on this article. The EU, which is Israel’s leading trade partner, must draw the necessary conclusions from this and must do everything to ensure that the Netanyahu government stops massacring journalists and respects the right to information and press freedom by opening media access to Gaza. The credibility of the EU is at stake.“
Dozens of media associations call on EU to suspend treaty with Israel
„In response to the unprecedented number of journalists killed and other repeated press freedom violations by the Israeli authorities since the start of the war with Hamas, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and 59 other organisations are calling on the European Union to suspend its Association Agreement with Israel and to adopt targeted sanctions against those responsible“, the groups said in a joint statement.
The call came ahead of a meeting by EU foreign ministers in Brussels on 29 August.
60 organizations urge EU action against Israel’s attacks on press freedom
In an urgent appeal, 60 global press freedom and human rights organizations, including the International Press Institute (IPI), are calling on the European Union to take decisive action against Israel for its escalating violations of media freedom and killing of journalists. In a letter addressed to EU leaders, the signatories urge the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement and the imposition of targeted sanctions on responsible Israeli officials.
Per Behördenkontrolle zur „Medienfreiheit“
Mit einem neuen EU-Gesetz entsteht ein Gremium für Mediendienste, das der EU-Kommission unterstellt ist, aber unabhängig agieren soll. Erstmals reguliert die Europäische Union damit auch die gedruckte Presse. „Desinformation“ steht besonders im Fokus. Kritiker sehen die Meinungsfreiheit bedroht und fürchten die Legalisierung einer Überwachung von Journalisten.
„Was an Pressefreiheit übrig bleibt, das existiert dann nur noch von Brüssels Gnaden“
23. 04. 2024 | Aus Anlass der Zustimmung des EU-Parlaments zum orwellianisch benannten „Medienfreiheitsgesetz“ hat Multipolar eine ausführliche und sehr kritische Analyse von Helge Buttkereit veröffentlicht, die ich zur Lektüre empfehle.
Meinungs- und Pressefreiheit: »Kritik zum Verstummen bringen«
„Aufgabe des Gremiums ist es auch, Maßnahmen gegen ausländische Medien zu koordinieren, die die öffentliche Sicherheit schwer gefährden. Das läuft letztlich auf Zensur hinaus, weil man es als Gefährdung der öffentlichen Sicherheit ansieht, wenn aus dem Ausland heraus Propaganda betrieben wird. Stichwort Staatssender, Stichwort RT Deutsch. Natürlich verbreitet jedes Land im Sinne seiner eigenen Interessen Informationen im In- und Ausland. Wenn wir aber anfangen, den Zugang unserer eigenen Bürger zu ausländischen Informationsquellen abzuschneiden, ist das nicht vereinbar mit den Grundsätzen eines freien Landes und eines mündigen Bürgers. Ich halte es für den völlig falschen Weg, unter dem vermeintlichem Deckmantel des Schutzes der öffentlichen Sicherheit Auslandsmedien zensieren zu wollen. „
FragDenStaat-Chefredakteur Arne Semsrott nach Berichterstattung über Gerichtsverfahren angeklagt: Verfassungswidrige Strafnorm gefährdet die Pressefreiheit
Berlin, 20. Februar 2024 – Die Staatsanwaltschaft Berlin hat gegen Arne Semsrott, Chefredakteur von FragDenStaat, wegen der verbotenen Mitteilung über Gerichtsverhandlungen Anklage zum Landgericht Berlin erhoben. Die Gesellschaft für Freiheitsrechte (GFF) und Strafverteidiger Lukas Theune unterstützen Semsrott und FragDenStaat in dem gegen ihn geführten Strafverfahren. Kernpunkt der Verteidigung ist, dass die Strafnorm verfassungswidrig ist und gegen die Pressefreiheit verstößt.
Arne Semsrott hatte im August 2023 über die Ermittlungsmaßnahmen gegen die Letzte Generation und den unabhängigen Sender Radio Dreyeckland berichtet und im Zuge dessen mehrere relevante Gerichtsentscheidungen veröffentlicht. Er riskierte damit bewusst Strafanzeigen. Die Staatsanwaltschaft Berlin leitete ein Ermittlungsverfahren gegen ihn ein und erhob nun in dem Komplex zur Letzten Generation Anklage, wegen der besonderen Bedeutung des Falls sogar zum Landgericht. Die einschlägige Strafnorm (§ 353d Nr. 3 StGB) verbietet ohne Ausnahme jede Veröffentlichung des Wortlauts von Dokumenten eines laufenden Strafverfahrens vor der Hauptverhandlung. Das erschwert die Berichterstattung über Strafverfahren und schränkt damit die Pressefreiheit unverhältnismäßig ein.
Tell the Biden administration to drop the Assange case now
The U.S. Department of Justice claims that Assange broke the law by receiving classified documents from a source, speaking with that source, possessing the documents, and publishing some of them. In other words, things journalists at news outlets around the country do every day.
If Assange is convicted under the Espionage Act, there will be nothing to stop the government from prosecuting other journalists who publish government secrets.
Take action to protect press freedom: Tell the Biden administration to drop the Assange case now.
Dänischer Geheimdienstchef und Ex-Minister vor Gericht
Die Staatsanwaltschaft wirft dem derzeit suspendierten Geheimdienstchef Lars Findsen und dem ehemaligen Verteidigungsminister Claus Hjort Frederiksen vor, Staatsgeheimnisse verraten und öffentlich der Presse zugänglich gemacht zu haben.(…)
Die Frankfurter Rundschau berichtet, dass Snowdens Enthüllungen 2013 ans Licht brachten, dass die NSA das globale Datenkreuz Kopenhagen für ihre Zwecke nach Belieben anzapfen konnte. Über die Datenzentrale des dänischen Auslandsgeheimdiensts FE hätten die US-Geheimdienste unter anderem Telefonate von Angela Merkel aus dem Bundeskanzleramt mitgehört.
Findsen und Frederiksen hingegen dürfen die genauen Vorwürfe nicht nennen, obwohl diese bereits öffentlich sind.
„Press freedom does not exist while my husband Julian Assange is in jail“ „Press freedom groups and journalists recognise that the fate of the press is tied up with what happens to Julian“ | Stella Assange @Stella_Assange
Ariane Lavrilleux en garde à vue : « L’exercice même du métier de journaliste est en péril », alertent des sociétés de journalistes
(21 septembre 2023)
Signataires : les sociétés de journalistes et de rédacteurs de l’AFP, Arrêt sur images, BFM-TV, Challenges, Courrier international, Epsiloon, Franceinfo.fr, FranceTVinfo, France 3 rédaction nationale, France Télévisions rédaction nationale, Indigo Publications, L’Express, L’Humanité, L’Informé, L’Obs, L’Usine nouvelle, La Tribune, La Vie, LCI, Le Figaro, Le Monde, Le Parisien, Le Point, Les Echos, Libération, M6, Marianne, Mediapart, NRJ, Paris Match, Public Sénat, Premières Lignes, Radio France, RFI, RMC, RTL, Sud Ouest, Télérama, TF1, 60 Millions de consommateurs, ainsi que l’association Profession : pigiste.
Pressefreiheit: Frankreich nimmt Journalist*innen in die Mangel
Im Fokus der aktuellen Debatte steht die französische Journalistin Ariane Lavrilleux. Sie deckte 2021 für das Magazin „Disclose“ auf, dass der französische Militärgeheimdienst DRM mit der ägyptischen Regierung zusammenarbeitete und dabei auch indirekt an Hinrichtungen beteiligt war.
Wegen dieser Recherche wurde die Journalistin am Dienstag festgenommen. Beamte des französischen Inlandsgeheimdienstes durchsuchten ihre Wohnung sowie ihre digitalen Geräte. Anschließend wurde Lavrilleux auf einer Polizeiwache verhört und kam erst nach 39 Stunden wieder frei. Die Sicherheitsbehörden sind wohl auch auf der Suche nach Lavrilleuxs Quelle. Dieser drohen laut Süddeutscher Zeitung wegen Landesverrats bis zu sieben Jahre Haft.
President Biden Is Trampling the Bill of Rights by Prosecuting Julian Assange | Opinion
When I met with Assange at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, I was most impressed by his intelligence, his compassion, and his belief in the power of truth. „If wars can be started by lies,“ he said, „peace can be started by truth.“ Now, Assange is being prosecuted for the publication of the Afghan War Diary and the Iraq War Logs, uncovering war crimes, torture, and civilian deaths perpetrated by the United States government in our name and with our money. Assange‘s award-winning publications have been cited as a crucial factor in changing public perception of these wars, which have cost trillions of dollars, hundreds of thousands of innocent lives, and displaced 37 million people.
In other words, the truth matters.
EU’s shocking greenlighting of spyware against journalists is extremely dangerous for media freedom
In the first place, proposing to give governments the power to spy on journalists’ phones and computers puts journalists’ sources at risk of identification and provides a high deterrent for “whistleblowers”, threatening the fundamental confidentiality of journalists’ sources and fostering a climate of impunity out of the fear of speaking up and being surveilled.
Secondly, through this new provision, the Council strongly incentivizes the deployment of threatening spyware based solely on Member States’ discretion, despite the numerous recent high-profile scandals involving the use of malware, such as Pegasus and Predator, to subtly surveil journalists and politicians’ communications, suppress dissent and undermine democracy.
The EU’s Orwellian crackdown on the media
The way the EU uses the term ‘media pluralism’ is a kind of Orwellian doublespeak. It means the opposite of what it implies. The EU doesn’t want pluralism – it wants to concentrate power in Brussels. It doesn’t want freedom – it wants to curb free expression and impose technocratic values from above. And it wants to do all of this without any public debate or accountability.
Biden likely violated First Amendment during COVID-19 pandemic, federal judge says
A U.S. District Court judge is temporarily preventing White House officials from meeting with tech companies about social media censorship, arguing that such actions in the past were likely First Amendment violations.
The Tuesday injunction by Louisiana Judge Terry A. Doughty was in response to recent lawsuits from Louisiana and Missouri attorneys general. The suits allege that the White House coerced or „significantly encourage[d]“ tech companies to suppress free speech during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Top News Editor at Netanyahu Trial: ‘No One Got the Treatment Like He Did’
(21.06.2023)
At the start of the hearing in Netanyahu’s ongoing trial for bribery, fraud and breach of trust, the three judges summoned both sides’ lawyers to their chamber for a private consultation. However, they declined to say what the discussion had been about.
(…)
He also said that then-editor in chief Avi Alkalay routinely altered articles in ways that benefited Netanyahu. “There were also articles that were shelved,” he added.
Asked by prosecutor Yael Shahaf how Alkalay explained his behavior, Borochov said Alkalay told him “that he coordinates things with the Prime Minister’s Office,” and that if “things didn’t go the way they should,” he would be replaced with an editor in chief chosen by Netanyahu
Nuclear Secrets, a Compost Heap and the Lost Documents Daniel Ellsberg Never Leaked
(April 20, 2023)
Daniel Ellsberg — who died Friday at 92 — fully expected to spend the rest of his life in prison after he leaked the Pentagon Papers to The New York Times and The Washington Post in 1971. The documents revealed decades of government lies and mistakes about the war in Vietnam, and eventually, they helped end it.
The charges against Ellsberg were ultimately dismissed, but he had a secret: The Pentagon Papers were only supposed to be the beginning. Alongside the documents about Vietnam, he’d copied thousands of pages of other documents about America’s nuclear war planning that he believed would shock the public conscience. But a series of mishaps kept those documents from ever coming to light.
„We are at this moment on a road to Hell.“ I discussed the Espionage Act, Julian Assange, and his own experiences with the Pentagon Papers, with the one and only @DanielEllsberg on my @MSNBC show tonight:
(May 8, 2023)
EU Members Want Option To Spy on Journalists in the Name of National Security
According to Politico, the latest text of the draft law from June 16th states that the word “spyware” has been replaced by the term “intrusive surveillance software” and that at least one delegation is wanting the inclusion of a passage noting member states having sole responsibility for their own national security.
The new law comes after several scandals across Europe involving spyware, such as the Pegasus spyware scandal, in which both politicians and journalists were targeted by the software, which was created by the Israel-based NSO Group.
EU-Staaten schwächen Gesetz zum Schutz der Pressefreiheit
Der Rat der EU-Staaten hat heute seinen Entwurf für das geplante Europäische Medienfreiheitsgesetz beschlossen. Darin hat der Rat den vorgesehenen Schutz von Journalist:innen vor staatlicher Überwachung deutlich abgeschwächt. Nach dem Vorschlag der Kommission sollte das Gesetz eigentlich europaweit ein weitgehendes Verbot von Überwachungsmaßnahmen, Inhaftierung und Beschlagnahmungen gegen Journalist:innen zur Ausforschung ihrer Quellen einführen. Auch sollte es demnach ein explizites Verbot der Überwachung von Journalist:innen mit Staatstrojanern festschreiben.
EU capitals want media law carve-out to spy on reporters
(20.06.2023)
European Union governments want to be able to spy on reporters in the name of national security, even as lawmakers urge them to crack down on spyware.
Governments‘ deputy ambassadors are set to give their blessing at a Council meeting on Wednesday to a national security exemption in a new media regulation whose original purpose was to safeguard media independence and pluralism.
Privacy advocates and journalists’ organizations argue the new clause would give countries a free pass to snoop on reporters.
Draft EU plans to allow spying on journalists are dangerous, warn critics
On Wednesday, the European Council – which represents the governments of EU member states – published a draft of the European Media Freedom Act that would allow spyware to be placed on journalists’ phones if a national government thought it necessary.
Unusually, the council did not take the step of holding an in-person meeting of ministers responsible for media before the draft was published.
EU set to approve the use of spyware to uncover confidential journalist sources ‚in the name of national security‘
Press freedom advocates warned the last-minute changes demanded by France could ‚open the door to all sorts of abuses‘.
All 32 offences listed in the EU arrest warrant, alongside any crime that could lead to a prison sentence of over five years, could be used under the new draft law.
It would also let EU governments exempt themselves from spying on journalists if it is an ‚overriding requirement of the public interest‘.
It‘s bizarre to watch establishment venues celebrate Daniel Ellsberg while spewing contempt for every cause and value he stood for — from defending Assange and Snowden as heroes to warning Americans that the US Security State always lies us into wars:
Why the Pentagon Papers Leaker Tried to Get Prosecuted Near His Life’s End
Citing the chilling effect that the creeping expansion of the law has on what information the public gets in a democracy, he expressed disappointment that the Biden administration had not dropped the Espionage Act charges against Mr. Assange.
“It’s clearly overly broad and does not just apply to people like me who had a security clearance. Assange is now feeling the weight of that,” he said, adding: “For 50 years I’ve been saying to journalists, ‘This thing was a loaded weapon looking at you.’”
Civil Liberties: Restore our Rights
Our administration will make it a top priority to protect and restore the fundamental civil liberties, enshrined in the Bill of Rights, that hold the essence of what America can be. These liberties have endured constant assault for over twenty years, starting with the Bush/Cheney War on Terror, and accelerating in the era of Covid lockdowns.
Freedom of speech is the capstone of all other rights and freedoms. Once a government has the power to silence its opponents, no other right is safe. We will therefore dismantle the censorship-industrial complex, in which Big Tech censors, deplatforms, shadowbans, and algorithmically suppresses any person or opinion the government asks them to. We will respect the right to privacy and freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures, by ending mass surveillance of American citizens and the abuse of civil asset forfeiture. We will make sure that the Covid-era suspension of the right to assembly, trial by jury, and freedom of worship will never happen again. The same for the right to property. During Covid, 3.4 million business were forced to close. Many of them, including 60% of Black-owned businesses, will never reopen.
A Kennedy administration will respect American citizens and stop treating them like suspects and schoolchildren. We will stop manipulating the public with propaganda and targeted leaks. We will never weaponize the law against political opponents, nor hold our own officials above the law. We will return the intelligence agencies to their proper role as protectors not violators of liberty.
To @POTUS and @TheJusticeDept: Stop the extradition of Assange. I am as indictable as he is on the exact same charges. I will plead „not guilty“ on grounds of your blatantly unconstitutional use of the Espionage Act. Let‘s take this to the Supreme Court.
(06.12.2022)
Alternative Facts: How the media failed Julian Assange
(March 2023)
Assange has been the object of vindictive government attention for many years, even before being threatened with lifetime incarceration in a U.S. supermax dungeon. Why has it taken so long for the mainstream media to take a stand?
When I asked the Committee to Protect Journalists why Assange did not make their list, I was directed to a December 2019 statement: “After extensive research and consideration, CPJ chose not to list Assange as a journalist, in part because his role has just as often been as a source,” it reads, “and because WikiLeaks does not generally perform as a news outlet with an editorial process.” The newspapers that signed the November letter have similarly refused to claim Assange as one of their own. At the same time, other charges and smears have warped the public narrative, obscuring the threats to the First Amendment. Many of the outlets now expressing alarm have ignored or misrepresented key information about his plight along the way. It is crucial to reflect on these misdirections, especially as a blatant assault on press freedom now appears to be on the brink of success.
Reporter for right-wing network attacked while covering anti-government protest
Shalev said he is accustomed to facing animosity at anti-government demonstrations because he reports for Channel 14, which critics consider a mouthpiece for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but that the incident the night before had for the first time included physical violence.
He said protesters used their flagpoles to beat him and his crew on the head and body.
“At that point I felt afraid. Until now I have not felt afraid in all the demonstrations I have been to, but here with the flags when it reached the physical level I started to be afraid,” Shalev said.
All major Free Speech and Human Rights Orgs oppose the extradition of #WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange Reporters Without Borders: ‚This is really the future of Journalism that is at stake – it will not stop with Julian Assange
„Pentagon Papers“ leaker Daniel Ellsberg, 91, is dying from cancer. Doctors have given him three to six months to live.
(03.03.2023)
To @POTUS and @TheJusticeDept: Stop the extradition of Assange. I am as indictable as he is on the exact same charges. I will plead „not guilty“ on grounds of your blatantly unconstitutional use of the Espionage Act. Let‘s take this to the Supreme Court.
(06.12.2022)
To @POTUS and @TheJusticeDept: Stop the extradition of Assange. I am as indictable as he is on the exact same charges. I will plead „not guilty“ on grounds of your blatantly unconstitutional use of the Espionage Act. Let‘s take this to the Supreme Court.
(06.12.2022)
Pentagon Papers‘ Daniel Ellsberg: „Stop the extradition of Assange. I am as indictable as he is on the exact same charges. I will plead „not guilty“ on grounds of your blatantly unconstitutional use of the Espionage Act. Let‘s take this to the Supreme Court“ #FreeAssangeNOW
The people have spoken. Accounts who doxxed my location will have their suspension lifted now.
Biden faces growing pressure to drop charges against Julian Assange
The charges against Assange for obtaining and publishing classified information, without any active role in actually stealing it mark “the crossing of a legal rubicon”, said Jaffer at Columbia University. That’s an ominous legal threshold, he said, for Assange and all journalists.
“It’s the first time the US government has used the Espionage Act to go after a publisher and the implications are huge,” Jaffer said. Assange “has been indicted for activity that reporters are engaged in every day and that reporters have to engage in every day to inform the public. This would have dramatic implications for national security journalism.”