Media Workers In Europe Operate In Increasingly Hostile Environment: Report

Umer Jamshaid Published September 16, 2025 | 04:15 PM

BRUSSELS, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 16th Sep, 2025) The European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) has documented 709 violations of press freedom in Europe, affecting 1,249 media professionals or journalistic entities.

The centre issued its semi-annual Monitoring Report, taking stock of the state of press freedom in Europe from January to June 2025, covering 36 countries, including EU Member States and candidate countries.

The Mapping Media Freedom database showed that media workers in Europe operate in an increasingly hostile environment. This included verbal assaults such as death threats and smear campaigns, in addition to physical attacks, assaults on property, legal violations, and interference in media coverage.

According to the report, online attacks represented the largest share of threats, followed by risks faced during coverage of protests, and then in courts and public spaces.

The report revealed that though private individuals remained the main perpetrators accounting for 22% of the recorded incidents, they were closely followed by government and public officials, who were responsible for 21% attacks. Police and state security were the perpetrators of 12% of the incidents.

The report also paid special attention to the phenomenon of foreign agent laws and disinformation narratives about foreign media funding, which have become a significant threat to independent media in Europe.

Media outlets and journalists in several countries were subjected to accusations related to foreign funding or were directly targeted through restrictive legislation that limits media freedom.