The Assembly urged European governments to create a broad “right to know” – consisting of maximum transparency in public life, a vibrant and diverse media, and a rich educational and cultural environment – in order to encourage democratic participation and combat “post-truth” disinformation and the manipulation of public opinion. Adopting a resolution based on the report prepared by Roberto Rampi…
3 May is World Press Freedom Day and as UNESCO puts it, “3 May acts as a reminder to governments of the need to respect their commitment to press freedom and is also a day of reflection among media professionals about issues of press freedom and professional ethics. Just as importantly, World Press Freedom Day is a day of support…
The agenda of the meeting to be held by videoconference, on Monday, 12 April 2021, from 9.30 am to 12 pm of the Committee on Culture, Education, Science and Media of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe provides for the first reading of the draft resolution entitled “Media freedom, public trust and the right to knowledge” introduced by…
It sometimes feels as though our democracy is broken, and I wonder if it is our own fault. We have the right to know what our government does on our behalf, but we have become an apathetic citizenry, apparently not caring enough to speak up when we don’t like how politicians run the government or spend our tax dollars. When…
An online hearing on the Right to Know took place on Thursday 3 December at the Culture, Science, Education and Media Commission of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Experts including the director of Access Info Europe Helen Darbishire and members of our Scientific Council Ezechia Paolo Reale, Claudio Radaelli and Laura Harth. Two hours in which our…
On 3 December, at around 2 pm, a hearing will be held at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on the draft resolution on the Right to Know, of which Senator Roberto Rampi is the General Rapporteur. The hearing will take place online within a session of the Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media of which…
Statement by Norman Baker, former British Home Office Minister, in support of the Radical Party’s initiative for a project resolution on the Right to Know tabled at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Democracy is nothing without citizens who are educated and informed. And to be informed, citizens must have the Right To Know. Democracy cannot simply be…
As Hong Kong’s free media is attacked, as social media channels are censored, as activists are arrested, we must revendicate our right to know what is going. If we want to counter not only the narrative but come up with adequate and timely countermeasures as well, we must start by halting the chinesization of our democracies and reinforce our resilience…
As part of our initiative to promote the people’s right to know, our researcher Lorenzo Domizi interviewed Finland’s first “Intelligence Ombudsman”, Mr. Kimmo Hakonen. As the Daily Finland reported, the watchdog position was established on 17 April 2019 “as part of the legislation that widened the powers of both the national security police as well as the military intelligence”. Mr.…