Greece: Media Freedom in Crisis

Greece: Media Freedom in Crisis

Click to expand Image Newspapers hanging on a kiosk in the center of Athens, Greece on March 24, 2022. © 2022 Nikolas Kokovlis/NurPhoto via AP The pervasive and deliberate constraints on journalism in Greece are creating an environment in which critical reporting is stifled, and self-censorship becomes the norm.Journalists face state surveillance, harassment, and intimidation by pro-government actors, and abusive lawsuits by politicians, all of …

A 101-page "fire" report from the Human Rights Watch describes in black colors the situation for independent media and journalists since the day the ND government took office. Second "slap" in the face in a few days. Maximos says the reports are "unreliable."

Press freedom stifled in Greece, reforms needed, says Human Rights Watch

Press freedom has been stifled in Greece since Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ conservative government came to power in 2019, with phone malware and aggressive lawsuits used against journalists, Human Rights Watch said in a report on Thursday.

The 117-page Human Rights Watch report, “From Bad to Worse: The Deterioration of Media Freedom in Greece,” documents through interviews, personal testimonies, and independent research the hostile environment faced by independent media outlets and journalists since the New Democracy government took office in July 2019, including harassment, intimidation, surveillance, and abusive lawsuits, which collectively contribute to self-censorship and act …

Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Thursday criticised Greece's government for “state actions that undermine” the right to information, pointing out that press freedom in the country has seen a marked deterioration since the Conservatives took office in 2019, AFP reported. HRW, in its report, “From Bad to Worse,” pointed to intimidation and harassment of journalists, encouragement of self-censorship, and growing media control in Greece. In a report bas…