OSCE Media Freedom Representative concludes official visit to the United States of America

OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media (RFOM) Teresa Ribeiro concluded a five-day official visit to the United States of America on 22 October 2021. She met with representatives of the US Department of State, members of the Helsinki Commission, and media freedom organizations to discuss media freedom and freedom of expression in the United States and across the OSCE region.

During her meetings with government officials, the Representative addressed several issues, including safety of journalists in the US, which has seen a growing decline in recent years. In the last year, more than a hundred journalists were assaulted by protestors during public demonstrations in the US, several having their equipment damaged. Law enforcement officials arrested or detained more than fifty journalists in the last year.

Among other issues, Ribeiro discussed with government officials the urgent need to restore public trust in the media; how to effectively tackle the challenges of disinformation, misinformation, while protecting free speech in an information chaos era; as well as the challenge of regulating online platforms in terms of how their business practices affect freedom of expression and media pluralism.

Moreover, the Representative commended new rules introduced earlier this year that help better protect the confidential sources of journalists by restricting the ability of federal prosecutors to obtain journalists’ records through secret subpoenas in government leak investigations.

During her visit, Ribeiro also gave testimony at the Helsinki Commission’s public hearing on media freedom across the OSCE region. She highlighted the urgent need to prioritize the safety of journalists and to restore trust in the independent media and its democratic function. She also shared her assessment on several interconnected challenges affecting global media freedom, including on the lack of trust in the media; the growing number of attacks on journalists, and the capture of our information space by opaque and unaccountable online social media platforms.

Ribeiro also signed the 2021 Joint Declaration on Politicians and Public Officials and Freedom of Expression at an event hosted in Washington DC by the Organization of American States Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression. The Joint Declaration this year denounced the rising tide of dangerous, hateful public statements coming from some politicians and public officials. It also offers recommendations to States on fostering independence, diversity and pluralism in the media, and calls on social media companies to ensure their content moderation rules, systems and practices meet international human rights standards.

In the UN Headquarters in New York, Ribeiro met with Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights and Head of Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ilze Brands Kehris. They exchanged views on global challenges for media freedom, and agreed to enhance their institutional cooperation. On the occasion of the Representative’s official visit, the OSCE Chairpersonship hosted a roundtable discussion with global media freedom organizations based in the United States.