OSCE South East Europe Media Conference "At a crossroads: Safeguarding media freedom to protect democracy"

With the current situation in the world, we find ourselves at a crossroads. In order to ensure our common security and our democracies, we should actively choose the path to defending media freedom. Various forms of attacks against media freedom and freedom of expression take place in many parts of the OSCE region ranging from physical assaults against journalists, censorship, media capture, legal repression and disinformation campaigns to destabilize our societies.

This year’s South East Europe Media Conference will be the central point of a myriad of panels, roundtables and debates centered on these issues, including a high-level opening and closing session; a kick-off stage interview discussing the pertinent question Why we need to safeguard media freedom now and several plenary sessions covering the following topics:

• Safety of journalists: mechanisms and tools for protection;
• Media self-regulation and public trust in the digital age;
• AI and freedom of expression;
• Media and digital literacy initiatives;
• Media ownership transparency an essential component of a democratic media;
• Hate speech – stock-taking of best practices in countering hate speech;
• Media viability – with a special focus on local, minority and public service media

The conference will also provide several side events comprising of interactive discussions on issues such as legal harassment, and labour rights and protections for journalists and media workers as well as youth engagement. In addition, three documentary films will be screened portraying real-life experiences related to safety of journalists and AI and freedom of expression.

The event will gather journalists, representatives of relevant state authorities, policymakers, media and legal experts and researchers from the region and beyond.

Livestream - Tuesday, 16 May, 10:00

Livestream - Wednesday, 17 May, 10:00