EU laws to protect press freedom in jeopardy, campaigners claim

autotldr Bot , 7 months ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:

---

Proposed EU laws aimed at stopping governments from hacking journalists’ phones and at protecting the independence and plurality of the press are in serious jeopardy, media campaigners have claimed.

She and others say the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA), which is in the final stages of negotiation between member states and MEPs, has been “watered down” so much behind the scenes that its original aim to give robust protection to the press may not be achieved.

One campaigner warned of “dangerous” compromises that will impact all journalists in the EU including British, US and any other international correspondents working in the bloc.

Under article 21 of the text submitted by the European parliament, cross-border and domestic plurality of the media in any member state must be assessed before any merger or acquisition is given the go-ahead.

The text was tempered by the European parliament to force governments to publicly outline its prima facie evidence for spying on a journalist, a move that it believed would make surveillance impossible.

Richard said that even countries that champion the principles of freedom of expression cannot be trusted when it comes to the press after the detention in Paris of the journalist Ariane Lavrilleux, who reported on leaked documents alleging French intelligence was used to target civilians in Egypt.

---

The original article contains 851 words, the summary contains 215 words. Saved 75%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!