The end of 2020 and beginning of 2021 were not easy on press and media freedom, the third MFRR Monitoring Report shows. The Monitoring Report is compiled by the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and International Press Institute (IPI), with support from ECPMF, and provides deep insights into the threats to media freedom in EU member states and Candidate Countries.

147 threats and violations of safety of journalists and media workers were registered in Europe from November to February 2021, Germany being the country of origin of the largest, and unprecedented, number of alerts – 33. 

Protests and demonstrations remain the most dangerous working context for journalists and media workers in Europe. An extraordinary number of protests has taken place in 2020, many related to Covid-19 pandemic and the governments’ response to it. They proved to be the most precarious working conditions, followed by public places and online presence.

An alarming trend is noticeable: harassment and violence has come from the police or state security more often than in the previous reports with 44 such cases reported, almost double the number registered in the second Monitoring Report. 

The Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) was launched in March 2020 to support at-risk journalists and media workers across the EU Member States and Candidate Countries. Mapping Media Freedom is a platform that enables anyone to upload details of an attack, threat or media freedom violation and help to visualise and collect information about media freedom across Europe. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the International Press Institute (IPI), with support from the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) form the expert network that verifies, analyses and publishes all alerts on the platform. These alerts form the basis of the Mapping Media Freedom Monitoring Report.