The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir today issued the 2018 Joint Declaration on Freedom of Expression, together with the other international rapporteurs on freedom of expression, at a high-level meeting organised by UNESCO in Accra, Ghana, to mark the World Press Freedom Day 2018 on 3 May. This year’s Joint Declaration focuses on “media independence and diversity in the digital age”.
The Joint Declaration was launched at UNESCO’s conference on “Keeping Power in Check: Media Justice and the Rule of Law” by Désir together with his counterparts from other intergovernmental organizations – the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, David Kaye; the Organization of American States’ Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression, Edison Lanza; and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights’ Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information, Lawrence Mute.
In issuing the Declaration, the OSCE Representative reflected that the media freedom situation has markedly deteriorated in large parts of the world, including in the OSCE area. In his view, states need to take seriously and implement their obligations and commitments concerning media freedom.
“This year’s Joint Declaration identifies a range of serious threats to media independence – physical attacks against journalists, but also legal, political, technological and economic threats – and offers policy recommendations to states in this regard,” said Désir. “The Joint Declaration shows how the values of media pluralism and diversity – as key indicators of media independence – may be safeguarded in a digital age.”
The Joint Declaration can be found here: https://www.osce.org/representative-on-freedom-of-media/379351.
The Joint Declarations have been adopted annually by these intergovernmental mechanisms on freedom of expression since 1999 with the support of two leading non-governmental organizations in the field, ARTICLE 19 and the Centre for Law and Democracy.
