EANA urges the Russian government to lift ban on freedom of information

The Board of the European Alliance of News Agencies (EANA) is deeply concerned about the situation regarding media freedom in Russia, especially in sight of the latest initiative of the media authority in Russia (Roskomnadzor) that practically imposes all media and non-media communication in Russia to exclusively rely on and “use information and data obtained by them only from official Russian sources”.

In the view of the Board of EANA, this measure represents a de facto restriction on freedom of the media and freedom of information from and about Russia, and would have a disastrous effect on the accuracy of the information that reaches the Russian and also the global public.

This is even more concerning as this censorship act is done during a war situation and also has the potential to affect the work of one of our members, TASS. The context makes media freedom and the citizen’s right to information even more vital, and therefore we urge the Russian government to lift the ban on free information. Russian citizens and the whole world have the right of access to unbiased news about the war in Ukraine and about the events in Russia.

We stand by our journalist colleagues during these dangerous and difficult times.

About EANA:

EANA serves as a forum for cooperation and exchange of information and experiences among European news agencies. The purpose of EANA is to safeguard and promote the common interests of its members in all areas essential to their work and activities. EANA’s aim is to secure that member news agencies can work as providers of unbiased news. EANA supports the principles of freedom of the press and shall strive to facilitate for member news agencies to work in accordance with these principles. EANA currently has 32 members from all over Europe.

The Board of EANA:

Clemens Pig, President of EANA, Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of APA – Austria Press Agency, Austria

Fabrice Fries, member of the Board, President and CEO of AFP, France

Elmir Huremovic, member of the Board, General Manager of the Federal News Agency FENA, BiH

Clive Marshall, member of the Board, Chief Executive of PA Group, UK

Alexandru Ion Giboi, Secretary General of EANA