EU Justice Commissioner Věra Jourová presents the launch of the CASE website, where individuals or organisations that have been victims of a SLAPP can register their case.

The European Union “made a horrible mistake in Europe by underestimating the role of media for upholding democracy,” European Commission Vice-President Věra Jourová said, citing the murders of journalists Daphne Caruana Galizia in Malta in 2017 and Ján Kuciak in Slovakia in 2018. Both probed high-level corruption.

The German Government is currently considering a first draft presented by the Ministry of Justice to transpose the EU Directive on Whistleblower Protection. Blueprint for Free Speech has analysed the draft law, which is still incomplete and should be improved further.

Proceedings resumed this morning in the case of Kumlin and another v Jonsson and others, which is considering if a suit against a Swedish publication for alleged libel should be held in London under English law.

London's High Court has heard that a £30m defamation claim should be dismissed as the claimant, a Swedish businessman, is engaged in “libel tourism,” rather than bringing his claim against Swedish journalists, over an article written in Sweden, before a Swedish court.

Cyber laws are being used to quash freedom of expression and pursue critical voices on social media and websites in Africa, South and South East Asia, and MENA countries, according to a new report by Blueprint and partner organisations.

Reacting to attacks and threats against journalists, the United Kingdom has put forth a national plan to protect them, with more reporting if they've been subject to online harassment as well.

Supporting secrecy for government agencies, US Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett – in her first majority opinion – led a 7-2 vote that will bar access under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

Two members of the ruling party in Germany's Parliament have been accused of profiting from COVID-19 mask deals that brought calls for closer scrutiny of lobbyists' dealings with politicians.

An Iowa reporter has gone on trial after being arrested in 2020 while covering a Black Lives Matter protest. Des Moines Register journalist Andrea Sahouri is being charged for failure to disperse and interference with official acts, while international pressure on prosecutors increases.

After the United States indicated that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, Reporters Without Borders filed a criminal complaint with German prosecutors charging crimes against humanity, including four other officials.

After proclaiming a “massive coup” in getting the world's most famous whistleblower, American former National Security Agency Consultant Edward Snowden as a special guest, he was disinvited from the Swiss Cyber Security Days (SCSD) forum after criticism from business and political leaders.