OSCE media representative, other global free speech rapporteurs highlight ten key challenges to freedom of expression

VIENNA, 4 February 2010 - The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media together with freedom of expression rapporteurs of the United Nations, the Organization of American States and the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights released today a declaration on the 10 key challenges facing freedom of expression in the next decade.

"The Declaration on Ten Key Threats to Freedom of Expression" was adopted at a joint meeting held Tuesday in Washington with the assistance of the media freedom group Article 19: Global Campaign for Free Expression, and the Centre for Law and Democracy.

"Enormous challenges still exist in giving full effect to the right to freedom of expression, including restrictive legal regimes, commercial and social pressures, and a lack of tolerance of criticism on the part of the powerful," the four rapporteurs said.

Miklos Haraszti, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, said: "Media freedom has, by many accounts, deteriorated in parts of the OSCE area during the almost six years I have served as OSCE Representative.

"The free press faces a severe safety crisis as governments fail to address unabated violence against journalists. More and more countries introduce restrictive Internet regulations that endanger the freedom of the global medium.

"In many post-Soviet countries, the greatest structural challenge to media freedom comes from total government control over television content."

The 10 threats listed in the four representatives' declaration are:

- Governments continue to exert direct or indirect control over the media;
- Laws criminalizing journalistic errors such as defamation, insult, or slander remain in force in most countries;
- Violence against journalists remains widespread, and governments generally fail to address it adequately;
- Limits continue to be imposed on the right to information, including through the application of secrecy laws to journalists and others who are not public officials;
- Restrictions to the right to freedom of expression still exist for historically disadvantaged groups;
- The growing concentration of ownership, the fracturing of the advertising market, and other commercial pressures threaten the ability of the media to disseminate public interest content;
- Public broadcasters do not enjoy sufficient financial support, while many of them have not been given a clear public service mandate;
- Security concerns and vaguely worded definitions of what constitutes terrorism or extremism are often used to limit critical or offensive speech;
- Some governments are trying to control or limit the Internet, including through the use of jurisdictional rules that allow cases, particularly defamation cases, to be pursued anywhere;
- A majority of the world's population still have no or limited access to the Internet.

Since 1999, the four representatives have issued 11 joint declarations, which have all served as references for their member states.

The signatories are:

- The UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, Frank LaRue
- The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Miklos Haraszti
- The Organization of American States Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression, Catalina Botero
- The African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression, Faith Pansy Tlakula.

The joint declaration is available at: //www.osce.org/documents/rfm/2010/02/42638_en.pdf