Study: criminal defamation unduly limits media freedom OSCE media freedom representative releases IPI-authored report on laws across region

by International Press Institute | Mar 7, 2017 | Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, FYROM Macedonia, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, Uzbekistan |

Flags of the OSCE member states set up in the media centre at the exhibition halls in Hamburg, Germany, 7 December 2016. EPA/Christian Charisius

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today released a comparative study “Defamation and Insult Laws in the OSCE Region” finding that criminal law remains an instrument to excessively limit media freedom.

Commissioned by the representative and conducted by International Press Institute (IPI) Director of Press Freedom Programmes Scott Griffen and IPI Executive Director Barbara Trionfi, the study examines the existence of criminal defamation and insult laws in the territory of the 57 OSCE participating states.

It offers a broad, comparative overview of the compliance of participating states’ legislation with international standards and best practices in the field of defamation law and freedom of expression.

Read the full story on IPI’s main website.