Censorship

There has been an upsurge of hate speech in the Bulgarian media, mainly targeting the Roma minority, refugees and migrants, says a study by the Sofia-based Media Democracy and the Centre for Political Modernisation, which was published on Monday.

Do?an Holding Chairperson Begümhan Do?an Faralyal? has underlined the crucial link between social development and freedom of expression, noting that media outlets must always pursue the truth, in a speech at the Uluda? Economy Summit on March 26. 

The European Parliament has expressed concern about a culture of self-censorship among journalists in Albania in its draft resolution on the country's progress in 2015.

The Venice Commission, the legal advisory body of the Council of Europe, has recommended changes to the crime of "insulting the president" in Turkey, pointing to the law's "vague wording" and increase in related cases and penalties. 

State funding for favoured media outlets, a generally poor economic situation and self-censorship among journalists pose a real threat to objective public information and make the outlook for the Serbian media worse year by year, a BIRN Serbia report entitled "Soft censorship, Changes in media sector - from bad to worst", issued on Thursday, writes.

Romanian journalists are protesting against a draft law on defamation, which was initiated by the leftist Social Democratic Party, PSD, calling it a device to shield politicians from criticism.

"This law aims to protect the politicians from being criticised for their actions," TV producer Radu Banciu claims.

-If the first thing that comes to one's mind is "Oh what about the effect on tourism," it means we have truly lost our souls and humanity.

-Turkey now excels in imposing media bans. We are the fastest and the most dynamic country in the world when it comes to introducing media blackouts. 

A Thai faces prison after being charged with lese majesty for insulting the king's dog, his lawyer said on Dec. 15, in an escalation of the already draconian royal defamation law.

Thanakorn Siripaiboon, 27, has been charged by police with lese majesty for a "satirical" Facebook post about the king and his dog, lawyer Pawinee Chumsri told AFP.

Links between politics, business and media have undermined journalistic excellence in the Albanian media and generated censorship or self-censorship among journalists, said the BIRN Albania study published on Tuesday. 

Albania should reject a bill introducing imprisonment for libel of public officials, says OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media.