The free speech Euros: Group A

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”116924″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes”][vc_column_text]In celebration of one of football’s biggest international tournaments, here is Index’s guide to the free speech Euros. Who comes out on top as the nation with the worst record on free speech?

It’s simple, the worst is ranked first.

We start today with Group A, which plays the deciding matches of the group stages today.

1st Turkey

Turkey’s record on free speech is appalling and has traditionally been so, but the crackdown has accelerated since the attempted – and failed – military coup of 2016.[1][2]

The Turkish government, led by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has attacked free speech through a combination of closing down academia and free thought and manipulating legislation to target free speech activists and the media. He has also ordered his government to take over newspapers to control their editorial lines, such as the case with the newspaper Zaman, taken over in 2014.[3]

Some Turkish scholars have been forced to inform on their colleagues[4] and Erdoğan also ordered the closing down of the prominent Şehir University in Istanbul in June 2020[5].

But it is manipulation of legislation that is arguably the arch-weapon of the Turkish government.

A recent development has seen the country use Law 3713, Article 314 of the Turkish Penal Code and Article 7 of the Anti-Terror Law to convict both human rights activists and journalists.

As of 15 June this year, a total of 12 separate cases of under Law 3173[6] have seen journalists currently facing prosecution, merely for being critical of Turkey’s security forces.

This misuse of the law has caused worldwide condemnation from the European Union, the United Nations and the Council of Europe, among many others[7].

Misuse of anti-terrorism legislation is a common tactic of oppressive regimes and is reflective of Turkey’s overall attitude towards freedom of speech.

Turkey also has a long history of detaining dissenting forces and is notorious for its dreadful prison conditions. Journalist Hatice Duman, for example, has been detained in the country since 2003[8]. She has been known to have been beaten in prison.[9]

Leading novelists have also been attacked. In 2014, the pro-government press accused two authors, Elif Shafak and Orhan Pamuk were accused of being recruited by Western powers to be critical of the government.[10]

Every dissenting voice against the government in Turkey is under scrutiny and authors, journalists and campaigners easily fall foul of the country’s disgraceful human rights record.

With a rank of 153rd on Reporters Without Borders’ 2021 World Press Freedom Index, it is also the worst-placed team in the tournament in this regard.

2nd Italy

Freedom of speech in Italy was enshrined in the 1948 constitution after the downfall of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini in 1945. However, a combination of the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, oppressive legislation and violent threats to journalists means that its record is far from perfect.

Slapps (strategic lawsuits against public participation) are used by governments and big corporations as a form of intimidation against journalists  and are common in Italy.

Investigative journalist Antonella Napoli told Index of the difficulty journalists such as her face due to Slapps. She herself is facing a long-running suit, which first arose in 1998. She will face her next hearing on the issue in 2022[11].

She said: “We investigative journalists are under the constant threat of litigation requires determination to continue our work. A pressure that few can endure.”

“When happen a similar case you feel gagged, tied, especially if you are a freelance journalist. If you get your hands on big news about a public figure with the tendency to sue, you’ll think twice. I have never stopped, but many give up because they fear consequences that they can’t afford.”

Italy bore the brunt of the early stages of the pandemic in Europe. Often, when governments experience nationwide crises, they use certain measures to implement restrictive legislation that cracks down on journalism and free speech, inadvertently or not.

The decree, known as the Cura Italia law, meant that typical tools for journalists, or any keen public citizen, such as Freedom of Information requests were hard to come by unless deemed absolutely necessary.

Aside from Covid-19 restrictions, Italy continues to have a problem with the mafia. There are currently 23 journalists under protection in the country.[12]

3rd  Wales

Wales is very much subject to the mercy of Westminster when it comes to free speech

Arguably, the most concerning development is the Online Safety Bill (also known as ‘online harms’), currently in its white paper stage.

While there are, sadly, torrents of online abuse, this attempt to regulate speech online is concerning.

The draft bill contained language such as “legal but harmful” means there would be a discrepancy between what is illegal online, versus what would be legal offline and thus a lack of consistency in the law regarding free speech.

The world of football recently took part in an online social media blackout, instigated in part by Welsh club Swansea City on 8 April[13], following horrific online racial abuse towards their players.

Swansea said: “we urge the UK Government to ensure its Online Safety Bill will bring in strong legislation to make social media companies more accountable for what happens on their platforms.”[14]

But the boycott was criticised with some, including Index, concerned about the ramifications pushing for the bill could have.

In 2020, Index’s CEO Ruth Smeeth explained what damage the legislation could cause: “The idea that we have something that is legal on the street but illegal on social media makes very little sense to me.”[15]

4th Switzerland

Switzerland has an encouraging record for a country that only gave women the vote in 1971.

They rank 10th on RSF’s World Press Freedom Index and have, generally speaking, a positive history regarding free speech and freedom of the press.

But a recent referendum may prove to be an alarming development.

Frequently, where there may be unrest or a crisis in a country, government’s use anti-terrorism laws to their own advantage. Voices can be silenced very quickly.

On 13 June, Switzerland voted to give the police detain people without charge or trial[16] under the Federal Law on Police Measures to Combat Terrorism.

Amnesty International Switzerland’s Campaign Director, Patrick Walder said the measures were “not the answer”.

“Whilst the desire among Swiss voters to prevent acts of terrorism is understandable, these new measures are not the answer,” he said. “They provide the police with sweeping and mostly unchecked powers to impose harsh sanctions against so-called ‘potential terrorist offenders’ and can also be used to target legitimate political protest.”

“Those wrongly suspected will have to prove that they will not be dangerous in the future and even children as young as 12 are at risk of being stigmatised and subjected to coercive measures by the police.​”

56.58 per cent came out in support of the measures.[17]

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jW_c30hwXTM&ab_channel=Vox

[2] https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0306422020917614

[3] https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/03/turkey-fears-of-zaman-newspaper-takeover/

[4] https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0306422020917614

[5] https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0306422020981254

[6] https://rsf.org/en/news/turkey-using-terrorism-legislation-gag-and-jail-journalists

[7] https://stockholmcf.org/un-calls-on-turkey-to-stop-misuse-of-terrorism-law-to-detain-rights-defenders/

[8] https://cpj.org/data/people/hatice-duman/

[9] https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2021/01/the-desperate-situation-for-six-people-who-are-jailednotforgotten/

[10] https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/dec/12/pamuk-shafak-turkish-press-campaign

[11] https://www.balcanicaucaso.org/eng/Areas/Croatia/Croatia-and-Italy-the-chilling-effect-of-strategic-lawsuits-197339

[12] https://observatoryihr.org/iohr-tv/23-journalists-still-under-police-protection-in-italy/

[13] https://twitter.com/SwansOfficial/status/1380113189447286791?s=20

[14] https://www.swanseacity.com/news/swansea-city-join-social-media-boycott

[15] https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2020/09/index-ceo-ruth-smeeth-speaks-to-board-of-deputies-of-british-jews-about-censorship-concerns/

[16] https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/freedom-of-expression–universal–but-not-absolute/46536654

[17] https://lenews.ch/2021/06/13/swiss-vote-in-favour-of-covid-laws-and-tougher-anti-terror-policing-13-june-2021/[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Does using Covid-19 apps have free speech implications?

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”What do citizens in South Korea, Italy and Spain think about the long-term consequences of signing up to Covid-19 apps? Our reporters Silvia Nortes, Steven Borowiec and Laura Silvia Battaglia report for Index on Censorship magazine.” google_fonts=”font_family:Libre%20Baskerville%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700|font_style:400%20italic%3A400%3Aitalic”][vc_single_image image=”114058″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes”][vc_column_text]

We feature here extracts from the full magazine article.

SOUTH KOREA

Kim Ki-kyung, a 28-year-old who lives in Seoul, is used to the idea of his mobile phone tracking his movements, so he wasnt bothered when he learned that his government would have access to his location data as part of efforts to contain the coronavirus outbreak.

He is far from the only one being tracked in this way. Several times a day, the millions of smartphones in South Korea bleat in unison with alerts from governments that users cannot opt out of receiving. When COVID-19 cases are diagnosed, the age and gender of the patients is disclosed to the public, along with the routes the patients took in the days before their diagnosis, so that others can avoid those places.

While the system raises issues of privacy, Kim thinks the potential benefits outweigh the concerns. Everyone is at least somewhat reluctant to share personal data with the government, but the tracking app allows the authorities to monitor people who are in self-quarantine, and will allow epidemiological surveys to be done faster,Kim said.

The government system sounds terrible at first but it really isnt all that different from regular smart services, like Google Maps or Nike Run Club,Kim said.

Kim says he follows, through the news, how the government plans to handle the data gleaned from the program, but isnt much worried about the data being used for some nefarious purpose somewhere down the road. He feels the more urgent task is containing the public health crisis. 

SPAIN

In Spain, our interviews found respondents were more concerned about the use of personal information collected by monitoring apps, than in the other countries. The main conclusion drawn from the interviews is that people do not trust this system completely and fear data might be misused by the government and private companies, perhaps because some people have memories of what it was like living under the General Franco dictatorship.

Juan Giménez, 28, agreed with using these apps “only for controlling the spread of the virus. Cristina Morales, 26, considers it “a violation of privacy, but, at the same time, it is appropriate to guarantee the citizenssafety and prevent confinement violations.

Ana Corral, 22,said it is OK as long as we know which information is used exactly, how it will be used and where the data is saved. If the goal is to know if you might have infected or been infected, that is fine”.

Some also mention social good as a priority. There are always individual sacrifices for the common good”, said Manuel Noguera, 40. For Eduardo Manjavacas, 40, “the end justifies the means.” Everything made for a global good and with a clear privacy policy is welcome. We live in a digital age, our data is studied daily for commercial purposes”, said Amelia Rustina, 30, while Sabina Urraca, 36, added she is ready for that sacrifice. I would like to trust individual responsibility, but I don’t.

On the other hand, older people are more reluctant, and many claim they would not register in these apps at all.

ITALY

They trust the government but with some doubts; they believe that giving up part of their privacy is a negotiable asset to protect public health; they want more reassurances on the functioning of the tracking app, wishing to know who will keep the sensitive data after the end of the pandemic.

These are the attitudes of Italian citizens of all ages relating to the use of a Covid-19 tracking app.

Index spoke to 50 Italian citizens – aged between 20 and 60, of different parts of the country, different professions and different backgrounds about their thoughts on the Immuni tracking app announced by the Italian government as part of its approach to Covid-19.The Immuni app was preceded by a similar experiment in the Italian region most affected by the pandemic: Lombardy, where some of them live.

Federica Magistro, 22, university student, and Anna Pesco, 60, a teacher, living in Milan have downloaded the app in Lombardy, and are currently using it. They also plan to use the national app. Both hope that the remaining 60% of Italians also think the same way, so it maximises its use to of the entire population. Federica said: “I think I should trust those who are developing it and the government that offers it”, while Tesco said: “I would like maximum transparency and I would like to have absolute guarantee on the cancellation of my data at the end of the pandemic.”

You can read the whole of this article in our Summer 2020 issue, available by print subscription here and by digital subscription here.  

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البقاء على قيد الحياة

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البقاء على قيد الحياة

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هناك حاجة ماسة إلى الصحافة المحلية في إيطاليا، ولكن كما تفيد لورا سيلفيا باتاليا، فإن مجرد القيام بعملك الصحفي قد يعرّضك للخطر

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ساندرو رووتولو هو مراسل مخضرم اشتهر بعد أن أمضى سنوات عديدة في التحقيق بأعمال المافيا وعصابات الكامورا في جنوب إيطاليا. عمل في البداية مع مؤسسات إخبارية محلية قبل أن ينتقل للعمل مع التلفزيون الوطني. يقول رووتولو أن القدرة على القدرة على الاستمرار في تغطية التكاليف المالية ليست المشكلة الوحيدة التي تواجهها الوسائل الإخبارية المحلية – بل هناك أيضا مخاوف تتعلّق بموظفيها. يعمل رووتولو الآن في نابولي لدى “فانبايج”، وهي قناة تلفزيونية تبث عبر الويب لديها تسعة ملايين متابع. يقول رووتولو أن الصحف المحلية التي نجحت في النفاذ بجلدها من خلال “الانتقال…الى المنصات الرقمية” يجب ليس فقط أن تبتكر وتتكيف بل أيضا أن تتجنب أمرا حيويا لا يؤثّر فقط على المستوى الوطني، بل أيضا على المستوى المحلي وربما بشكل أكبر، ويعني بذلك مشكلة تضارب المصالح بين القيادة التحريرية والملكية المالية. 

يقول رووتولو لإندكس: “عندما يقوم الصحفيون، وخاصة الصحفيون المحليون، بالتدقيق في تضارب المصالح هذا، لأنهم يؤمنون بالصحافة المستقلة، فإنهم يعرضون أنفسهم للخطر الجسدي. فحقيقة أنه لا يزال هناك ٢١ صحفياً، ٢٠ منهم يعملون في الصحافة المحليّة، يحتاجون لحراسة الشرطة بسبب تهديدات القتل التي وردتهم، هي أمر يلام عليه كل الصحفيين الآخرين الذين يرتبطون ارتباطاً وثيقاً بالسياسيين ويتوّرطون في تضارب المصالح هذا”.

حصل رووتولو على حراسة من الشرطة بعد أن تلقى تهديدات متعددة بالقتل.  تم إبطال ذلك من قبل وزير الداخلية ماتيو سالفيني، قبل أن يتم إعادة فرضه. انتقد الناس قرار ابطال حراسته وهذا، كما يقول رووتولو، يؤكد على وجود عطش لدى الجمهور للصحافة النزيهة. يقول: “تثبت تجربتي أنه هناك تعطّش لدى الشعب الإيطالي للمعلومات… في عصر الجهل، يحاول الجمهور إعادة فرض حقه في سماع الحقيقة. بالنسبة لي، هذا أمر هو ذو أهمية سياسية هائلة”.

ترجمة دينيز موير

لورا سيلفيا باتاليا هي محرّرة مساعدة في إندكس

لماذا يجب أن نهتم بالصحافة المحلية؟

غالبًا ما تفتقر الصحافة المحلية في فرنسا وبلجيكا إلى الجرأة في مساءلة المسؤولين أو الشركات أو المؤسسات المحلية، أو في تغطية القضايا المثيرة للجدل. لكن على الرغم من ذلك، تقدّم الصحافة المحلية خدمة أساسية للمصلحة العامة عن طريق تقديم معلومات حول القضايا الهامة، والمساهمة في إنشاء فضاء للنقاش العام، وابراز انجازات العديد من الناس والمجتمعات الذين يشعرون بأنهم مهمّشين من قبل وسائل الإعلام الوطنية. إذن، يقوّض تقهقر الصحافة المحلية رسالة الصحافة ككل، ويخلق ثقوبًا سوداء في وقت أصبح فيه فهم قضايا المناطق الداخلية في كل البلدان أمرًا بالغ الأهمية. كما أن تراجع الصحافة المحلية قد يغذي اللعبة الشعوبية من خلال مفاقمة الشعور بـ “التخلي” والتهميش، وشعور سكّان هذه المناطق بأنهم يعيشون في قرى وبلدات منسية.

جان بول مارثوز، صحفي بلجيكي وكاتب عمود في “لو سوار”

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Cuestión de supervivencia

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Italia está muy necesitada de periodismo local, pero el trabajo de reportero puede llegar a ser peligroso. Informa Laura Silvia Battaglia”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Sandro Ruotolo es un veterano reportero de investigación, célebre por los años que se ha dedicado a investigar sobre la mafia y la camorra del sur de Italia. En sus inicios trabajaba para informativos locales; más adelante pasó a la televisión nacional. Según Ruotolo, la supervivencia financiera no es el único problema al que se enfrenta la prensa local: también tienen que preocuparse por su plantilla.

Actualmente, Ruotolo trabaja en Nápoles para Fanpage, un canal de televisión web con nueve millones de seguidores, y afirma que los periódicos locales que han conseguido “salvarse con la transición a lo digital” han de innovar y adaptarse. A esto se le añade lidiar con un problema que, si bien existe a nivel nacional, localmente se nota más: el conflicto de intereses entre la directiva editorial y la propiedad financiera.

Explica para Index: “Los periodistas, especialmente los locales, se exponen al peligro cuando se lanzan a indagar sobre esa fusión de intereses, guiados por una fe en el periodismo independiente. El hecho de que aún queden 21 reporteros con escolta policial, 20 de ellos a nivel local, a raíz de las amenazas de muerte que han recibido, es por culpa del resto de periodistas que se vinculan estrechamente con políticos y cultivan conflictos de intereses de este tipo”.

A Ruotolo, que ha recibido múltiples amenazas de muerte, también le asignaron una escolta policial. El ministro del interior, Matteo Salvini, revocó la medida antes de volver a instaurarla. La decisión de retirarle la seguridad recibió críticas del público, lo cual, según Ruotolo, indica una sed de información veraz.

“Mi experiencia demuestra que el pueblo italiano quiere estar informado —dice—. En esta época de ignorancia, el público está reclamando su derecho a oír la verdad; cosa que, a mi parecer, tiene una gran importancia política”.

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Laura Silvia Battaglia es redactora adjunta en Index[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

¿Por qué debería importarnos el periodismo local?

La prensa local de Francia y Bélgica a menudo ha demostrado una falta de valor a la hora de insistir en que dirigentes, empresas o instituciones rindan cuentas, o de cubrir noticias potencialmente polémicas. No obstante, siempre ha ofrecido un servicio de interés público esencial, como es informar sobre ciertos temas, contribuir a la formación de un debate público y dar visibilidad a individuos y comunidades que han sido ignoradas por los medios nacionales (o se hayan sentido así). La desaparición del periodismo local socava la práctica del periodismo al completo, generando agujeros negros en un momento en el que es crucial comprender lo que pasa “en los pueblos”. Una ausencia así amenazaría la entrada en un juego de populismo al exacerbar la sensación en esas regiones de haberse quedado “tiradas”, olvidadas o estar viviendo en ciudades y pueblos “de paso” o “en medio de la nada”.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Jean-Paul Marthoz, periodista belga y columnista para Le Soir

Traducción de Arrate Hidalgo Sánchez[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]