Africa: Access to Information – ‘No to Secrets,’ Urge Journalists Around the World

Across the world, access to public information is at risk of being restricted in the name of national security and anti-terrorism legislation.These increasingly broaden definitions of ‘classified information’ and limit exceptions for journalism. Furthermore, the obstruction of journalistic work takes many forms, from a ban to attend certain events and denial of access to public information, to being summoned by the police for not disclosing the identities of anonymous sources.

Many of those in power rig access to hamper the work of journalists and to silence the media, disregarding democracy and good governance. Journalism is a public good, but it must operate under conditions that enable its free exercise without fear of being threatened, persecuted or attacked.

To mark the International Day for Universal Access to Information, the IFJ turns the spotlight on five cases from different regions of the world, to illustrate how the universal right to information, including the citizens’ right to seek, receive and impart information, has been infringed by governments, public authorities and security forces.

Middle East and the Arab World: Israel deliberately breaches right to access information at global level

“The Israeli government is deliberately depriving billions of people across the world of their right to freedom of expression and governments and international actors worldwide are complicit in not doing enough to stop the massacre of journalists nor to lift the media ban on access to international media,” says the IFJ.

Following the deadly attack by Hamas on 7 October and Israel’s brutal war in Gaza, the Israeli government has blocked civilian access to the enclave citing “security concerns”. For almost one year, only Palestinian journalists based in Gaza and, to a very limited extent, international media crews embedded with the Israeli military under controlled conditions, have been able to report on the ground. Furthermore, Israel’s policies of terrorising and killing Gaza’s journalists -at least 127 Palestinian journalists have been killed according to the IFJ – are a blatant attempt to control the narrative of the war and cloak human rights violations.

The IFJ and its affiliates will continue to stand by Palestinian journalists and reiterate their calls on Israel to end the bloodshed in Gaza and to lift the ban on foreign media.

Africa: Information Bill endangers the right to access information in Somalia

Somalia’s Official Information Bill (OIB) – approved by the Council of Ministers in March 2024 and sent to the Federal Parliament for approval – poses severe threats to freedom of information, democratic governance and human rights. The legislative text contains extensive provisions on confidentiality and national security information including espionage-related sanctions, and fails to establish clear, well-defined exemptions, challenging freedom of expression and the right to access information. “The excessive authority granted to national security institutions within the Official Information Bill promotes a culture of secrecy, counteracting the goals of openness and public trust,”outlined Omar Faruk Osman, the Secretary General of the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ).

The IFJ, the Federation of African Journalists (FAJ), the NUSOJ and other press freedom organisations have called on the Somali government to withdraw the Bill from the legislative process and subject it to comprehensive consultations with all relevant stakeholders.

Asia-Pacific: Journalists summoned for not revealing their sources in Malaysia

Three journalists from independent news outlet Malaysiakini – B Nantha Kumar, Hariz Mohd, and Shahrin Aizat Noorshahrizam – were summoned to the Dang Wangi police station in Kuala Lumpur for questioning on 9 August, following the publication of a news article concerning a potential leadership reshuffle within the Royal Malaysia Police (RMP). The journalists were interrogated by law enforcement officers for over an hour with police investigations centred on uncovering the identities of anonymous sources cited in the article. The journalist’s lawyer, Rajsurian Pillai said following the questioning that the journalists refused to breach sources’ confidentiality.

The journalists could face a maximum sentence of three years, with fines of over MYR 50,000 (~USD 11,800). In a joint statement, the IFJ joined the National Union of Journalists Peninsular Malaysia (NUJM) in criticising the investigations and affirmed the right to source confidentiality in news coverage in the public interest, which is crucial to guarantee the public’s right to know.

Europe: Journalist prevented by police from covering political event in France

This year, the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) platform, which monitors violations of media freedom across EU member states and candidate countries, has recorded 155 alerts with 239 journalists and media entities obstructed in their journalistic work. The majority, 96 alerts, were blocked access to events including arbitrary denial of accreditation or registration; followed by 35 alerts with journalists being denied access to information, including no answers to enquiries, and 26 alerts where journalistic content was blocked from distribution on websites and social media accounts.

On 12 September, French journalist Gérard Fumex, editor-in-chief of the local information portal Librinfo, was forcibly prevented by police officers from covering the parliamentary sessions of the right-wing party The Republicans, including the arrival of the new Prime Minister Michel Barnier in Annecy, southeast of the country. When the journalist was about to interview one of the elected officials, he was interrupted by police officers and called for an ID check. According to his employer, the police first banned him from covering the event alleging that his press card was due for renewal. However, an expired press card does not legally prevent a journalist from exercising the profession. Fumex also explained that the officials told him that they had a request from the public prosecutor’s office to verify his identity. The journalist was not shown a copy of this request.

Latin America and the Caribbean: Argentina’s government reform undermines transparency in public management and the right to access information

Javier Milei’s government incorporated restrictive exceptions to the regulation of Law on Access to Public Information in Argentina through a decree published in the Official Gazette on 2 September. Contrary to the original spirit of the legislation, the recent reform limits the definition of ‘public information’ and establishes a discretionary criterion to consider what is ‘secret’ information. In other words, it undermines transparency in public management. The Workers’ Press Union (FATPREN) and its member unions have sounded the alarm on the impact this measure may have on journalists’ work to ensure transparency and accountability of rulers, because it restricts access to the right to information and curtails part of the journalistic task of investigation and dissemination, shrinking, once again, the right to freedom of expression.

“We are concerned that this regulation is aligned with a series of political decisions of the national government that seek to control and obscure information about the actions and acts of the government,”argued FATPREN in a statement. “This latest move comes on top of the discretionality in broadcasts and accreditations in official acts, the censorship and the attempt to empty the public media, the public aggressions against journalists who disseminate information about the President Milei or express opinions that dissent to the government official narrative and, to the repression against press workers during demonstrations.”

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IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said: “Year after year, we are witnessing governments and security forces around the world hindering journalists’ work and infringing the public’s right of access to information. This is outrageous. We, journalists, say: ‘no to secrets’. We have the right to carry our duty to inform the public without fear of being threatened, intimidated or attacked. We demand governments around the world to make public information public and to stop interfering in the work of journalists”.

IFJ President Dominique Pradalié said: “On the occasion of International Day for Universal Access to Information, I would like to take the example of Julian Assange, who was released last June. Assange is free, but the Assange affair is not closed and concerns everyone. On 1 October, this journalist, a member of an IFJ affiliate, will attend a parliamentary hearing of the European Council in Strasbourg (France) organised by the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights following its report on his detention and conviction and its deterrent effects on journalists and the right to be informed. In particular, the committee is calling on the United States – the Council’s observer – to amend the 1917 Espionage Act to exclude publishers, journalists and whistleblowers. A plenary debate and vote on the report and recommendations is scheduled for 2 October. Universal access to information, which we are celebrating today, is at stake”.

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