Actions taken:
Journalists in conflict
Journalists covering conflicts are afforded protection under international humanitarian law. This means that all parties to a conflict must avoid deliberate attacks against them and only detain them on justified security grounds.
Media Freedom Coalition
The United Kingdom (UK) Government is committed to media freedom, and champions democracy and human rights around the world. In 2019, the UK and Canada co-hosted a global conference on media freedom in London, bringing together over 1,500 global leaders, representatives from the media industry, journalists, civil society, and academia gathered to attend interactive panel discussions. This conference was part of the UK’s efforts internationally to shine a global spotlight on media freedom and increase the cost to those that are attempting to restrict it. The conference was structured around four themes:
– protection and prosecution, including impunity;
– national frameworks and legislation;
– building trust in media and countering disinformation; and
– media sustainability.
At the conference, the UK and Canada hosts announced the launch of a new Media Freedom Coalition (MFC). The MFC is a partnership of countries working together to advocate for media freedom and safety of journalists and to hold to account those who harm journalists for doing their job. Members of the MFC have signed the Global Pledge – Media Freedom Coalition, a written commitment to improving media freedom domestically and working together internationally.
The MFC continues to promote media freedom by lobbying on individual cases, working to hold abusers to account, supporting its members and other countries to improve protections for the media and making collective statements in multilateral fora.
Since its foundation, the MFC as grown to 51 countries across six continents. It has issued 46 public statements on individual cases, situations of concern, issues related to media freedom and in marking international dates and events. These include statements relating to the military crackdown in Myanmar, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and violent repression in Iran. Our diplomatic missions raise cases and lobby together to promote and protect media freedom in many countries. The MFC has expelled Afghanistan and Sudan for failure to comply with their obligations under the Global Pledge.
The UK supported the Coalition’s statement on the safety of journalists and media workers in conflict in December 2023. following the escalation of hostilities between Israel and Hamas. The statement stressed the need for access to reliable, independent and diverse information sources and access to the internet during times of conflict. It highlighted the critical role played by journalists and media workers in informing the world about the realities and impacts of conflict and drew attention to the rules and responsibilities related to their protection in conflict.
The UK and the United States led the work of the Media Freedom Coalition’s Media Development Working Group on improving the effectiveness of global development aid support to the media. This resulted in “Development Co-operation Principles for Relevant and Effective Support to Media and the Information Environment”, adopted by the OECD Development Assistance Committee on 22 March 2024.
In May 2024, the UK signed the Media Freedom Coalition statement which expressed concern regarding the closure of Al Jazeera operations in Israel.
Global Media Defence Fund
The UK has committed up to £3 million over five years to the UNSECO Global Media Defence Fund (GMDF). The fundamental work of the Fund is to enhance media protections and bolster the legal protection of journalists at threat.
UNESCO has run four calls for partnerships to date. 150 projects have been selected so far helping over 8,000 journalists worldwide, nearly 1,500 lawyers and 200 NGOs. Ongoing projects range from supporting legal clinics, lawyers’ networks and other pro-bono media defence mechanisms to fostering strategic litigation against laws and judicial practice curtailing media freedom.
The Fund has supported the work of the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI), acting as Secretariat to the High-Level Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom. The support of the Secretariat aided the Panel to produce four enforcement reports and provide specialised legal advice to countries to improve their domestic environment on media freedom.
In 2022, the UK donated a further £250,000 to the GMDF’s Crisis Response Mechanism to help bolster efforts supporting journalists in Ukraine. This included 125 sets of personal protective equipment to journalists. Additionally, the GMDF supported the relocation of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU) and the Independent Media Trade Union of Ukraine to safer areas and a 24-hour hotline for journalists, which received over 1,000 requests by within the first weeks.
In 2023, the UK contributed to emergency support for media workers in Haiti and Sudan.
The UK’s National Action Plan for the Safety of Journalists.
In 2021, the UK launched a National Action Plan on for the Safety of Journalists, setting out how journalists in the UK will be protected from threats of violence or intimidation. The Plan brings together journalists, police and the Government to improve ways in which journalists can be supported and given the resources and training they need, including by enhancing the criminal justice system’s response to tackling crimes against journalists.
The Plan focuses on five key areas:
– increasing our understanding of the problem;
– enhancing the criminal justice system response in tackling crimes against journalists;
– supporting journalists and their employers to build the resources they need to protect personal safety;
– helping online platforms to tackle the wider issue of abuse online; and
– improving public recognition of the value of journalists.
Many of the commitments in the National Action Plan have now been delivered. These include:
A legal guide for journalists in England and Wales to combat online harassment and abuse;
The appointment of Journalist Safety Liaison Officers by police forces across the UK; and
An online safety toolkit which covers a variety of issues such as physical and digital safety, mental health, as well as signposting a number of other helpful resources.
A refreshed National Action Plan for the Safety of Journalists was published on 30 October 2023. The refreshed Plan covers the same five themes.
New commitments include:
– the National Union of Journalists and the UK Department, Culture, Media and Sport to create a data gathering tool for journalists to highlight safety issues taking place in the UK;
– encouraging police forces across England and Wales to adopt new Public Order training; and
– establishing a sub-group of publishers and broadcasters to share best practice in protecting journalists.
