Civic Space: Freedom of Expression and Media Freedom

Freedom of Expression and Media Freedom

Human rights defenders and journalists play an important role in defending people’s rights, holding governments to account, and communicating to the public about government actions. Freedom of expression and media freedom enable these actors to serve as interpreters and infomediaries, connecting public institutions, decision makers, and the public. Yet government crackdowns and violence targeting defenders and journalists do more than threaten individuals; when they are silenced, corruption and other issues remain hidden.

Key Terms The Evidence Reform
Guidance Active OGP
Partners Benchmarking
Data Guidance
& Standards

Open Gov Challenge: Civic Space

With OGP’s 2023-2028 Strategy, OGP members are set to work toward a number of aspirational thematic reforms through the Open Gov Challenge. This section of the Open Gov Guide addresses Civic Space.

Challenge prompt: Strengthen enabling environment and spaces for civil society and civic action.

Actions and reforms that fit within the scope of this challenge area are:

Adopting, improving and/or implementing laws on civic space (especially non-profit laws) that are impartial and minimally restrictive on the operations of independent organizations.
Programs to train and support national and/or subnational authorities in respecting and protecting the right to freely assemble in an unbiased and minimally restrictive manner.
Reforms related to improving freedom of expression, such as protection of human rights defenders and other activists.
Protection of freedom of association at both national and local level.
Development of a civic space strategy or action plan, or promoting the use of Human Rights Impact Assessments, to comprehensively address issues restricting civic space.

Open Gov Challenge: Media Freedom

With OGP’s 2023-2028 Strategy, OGP members are set to work toward a number of aspirational thematic reforms through the Open Gov Challenge. This section of the Open Gov Guide addresses Media Freedom.

Challenge prompt: Develop or reinforce legal frameworks that protect the rights of journalists and independent media.

Actions and reforms that fit within the scope of this challenge area are:

Remove criminal defamation, libel, and other penalties for reporting and tackling the use of SLAPPs (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) to silence journalists and activists.
Create supportive environments for revenue generation and mechanisms that allow for independent and public-funded media platforms and avoid the concentration of media ownership at national and/or local level.
Reforms related to reviewing or passing new media laws aligned with open government principles.

Key Terms

Definitions for key terms such as freedom of expression and media freedom.

Freedom of expression: According to the international organization Article 19, “Freedom of expression is the freedom for us all to express ourselves. It is the right to speak, to be heard, and to participate in political, artistic, and social life.” Though often used interchangeably with “free speech,” “freedom of speech,” and similar terms, this chapter will use “freedom of expression” in line with its use in international human rights law. [Though the right of access to information held by or on behalf of public bodies (also “freedom of information” or the “right to information”) is considered part of the right to freedom of expression and foundational to media freedom, it is reviewed separately in the Open Gov Guide.]
Human rights defender: This term is used to describe people who, individually or with others, act to promote or protect human rights in a peaceful manner.
Media freedom: Media freedom refers to the ability of journalists and other media workers to report freely on matters of public interest as a principle within the freedom of expression.

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The Evidence

The evidence shows that protecting freedom of expression and media freedom can magnify the positive effect of other open government reforms.

Respecting civic freedoms can support healthy economic growth and improve human development outcomes, as research from V-Dem Institute and The B Team shows.
Human rights defenders and journalists have exposed corruption by uncovering bribery and helping governments recover stolen assets.
Protecting the freedom of expression improves trust in government, as case studies of 29 European countries and Indonesia suggest.
Free expression and media freedom have been shown to encourage political participation and stability by helping disseminate different points of view.
A free press is associated with increased literacy, as shown through an analysis of UNESCO data in democratic African countries.

Reform Guidance

The recommendations below represent reforms that national and local governments, representatives of civil society organizations, and others can consider for their action plans and the Open Gov Challenge. The reforms are categorized according to OGP’s principal values: transparency, civic participation, and public accountability. Reforms should be adapted to fit the domestic context, and involve and coordinate with other levels and branches of government.

Reforms across policy areas are also tagged by the estimated degree of difficulty in implementation. Though progress is often not linear, the recommendations have been categorized using these labels to give the reader a sense of how different reforms can work together to raise the ambition of open government approaches.

Recommended Reforms Key

OGP Values

Transparency: Transparency empowers citizens to exercise their rights, hold the government accountable, and participate in decision-making processes. Examples of relevant activities include the proactive or reactive publication of government-held information, legal or institutional frameworks to strengthen the right to access information, and disclosing information using open data standards.

Civic Participation: When people are engaged, governments and public institutions are more responsive, innovative, and effective. Examples of relevant initiatives include new or improved processes and mechanisms for the public to contribute to decisions, participatory mechanisms to involve underrepresented groups in policy making, and a legal environment that guarantees civil and political rights.
Public Accountability: Public accountability occurs when public institutions must justify their actions, act upon requirements and criticisms, and take responsibility for failure to perform according to laws or commitments. Importantly, public accountability means that members of the public can also access and trigger accountability mechanisms. Examples of relevant activities include citizen audits of performance, new or improved mechanisms or institutions that respond to citizen-initiated appeals processes, and improved access to justice.
Inclusion: Inclusion is fundamental to achieving more equitable, representative, and accountable policies that truly serve all people. This includes increasing the voice, agency, and influence of historically discriminated or underrepresented groups. Depending on the context, traditionally underrepresented groups may experience discrimination based on gender, sexual identity, race, ethnicity, age, geography, differing ability, legal, or socioeconomic status.

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Degree of Difficult

Foundational: This tag is used for reforms that are the essential building blocks of a policy area. “Foundational” does not mean low ambition or low impact. These recommendations often establish basic legal frameworks and institutional structures.
Intermediate: This tag is used for reforms that are complex and often involve coordination and outreach between branches, institutions, and levels of government, with the public or between countries.
Advanced: This tag is used for reforms that close important loopholes to make existing work more effective and impactful. Specifically, “Advanced” reforms are particularly ambitious, innovative or close important loopholes to make existing work more effective, impactful or sustainable. They are often applied in mature environments where they seek to institutionalize a good practice that has already shown results.

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Branch of Government

Executive: The executive branch of government is responsible for designing, implementing, and enforcing laws, policies, and initiatives. It is typically led by the head of state or government, such as a president or prime minister, along with their appointed cabinet members. The executive branch’s functions also include overseeing the day-to-day operations of the government, managing foreign affairs, and directing the country’s armed forces. In democratic systems, the executive branch is accountable to the legislature and the electorate, with its powers and limitations outlined in the constitution or legal framework of the respective country.
Legislative: The legislative branch of government is responsible for making laws and regulations and overseeing the functioning of the government. It typically consists of a body of elected representatives, such as a parliament, congress, or assembly, which is tasked with proposing, debating, amending, and ultimately passing legislation. The legislative branch plays a crucial role in representing the interests of the people, as its members are elected to office by the public. In addition to law-making, this branch often holds the power to levy taxes, allocate funds, and conduct certain investigations into matters of public concern. The structure and powers of the legislative branch are usually outlined in a country’s constitution or legal framework, and it serves as a check on the executive and judicial branches to ensure a system of checks and balances within a state.

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Recommended Reforms

Policy Area	Recommendation	OGP Value	Degree of Difficulty	Government Branch
Protections	Create national-level plans to protect media workers Create a National Action Plan on the Safety of Journalists and a National Journalist Safety Mechanism through an inclusive, multi-stakeholder process. This can include safety measures such as a hotline for journalists to report threats to their safety. Policy Area Protections OGP Value Civic Participation Degree of Difficulty Intermediate Government Branch Legislative	Civic Participation	Intermediate	Legislative
Protections	Consult marginalized groups to create protections Engage organizations representing women and other minorities in crafting solutions to harassment and violence. Policy Area Protections OGP Value Civic Participation Inclusion Degree of Difficulty Intermediate Government Branch Executive Legislative	Civic Participation Inclusion	Intermediate	Executive Legislative
	Create protections for those under threat of violence Create specific safety mechanisms for individuals and groups under threat of violence, especially women, activists, and LGBTQIA+ media actors. This may include enhanced protection and, where necessary, temporary relocation. Policy Area OGP Value Civic Participation Inclusion Degree of Difficulty Advanced Government Branch Legislative	Civic Participation Inclusion	Advanced	Legislative
Protections	Create early-warning and emergency support mechanisms Create or strengthen a system to provide rapid early-warning and emergency support to activists, including security, relocation, travel, work, and family assistance. This includes adopting legislation or creating executive orders to address gaps in the legal framework that might prevent an effective, timely response. Creating legal pathways that can quickly provide refuge to activists at risk of persecution, such as emergency visas. The Czech Republic can serve as an example for how to publish emergency visas quickly, especially in collaboration with civil society. Policy Area Protections OGP Value Civic Participation Degree of Difficulty Advanced Government Branch Legislative	Civic Participation	Advanced	Legislative
Protections	Strengthen content and defamation laws to support free expression Assess and revise rules and laws on content and defamation (such as libel laws) in consultation with media and civil society. Remove criminal defamation from the code, consistent with international consensus. Ensure that any limits to freedom of expression to pursue legitimate aims are legal and proportionate, such as countering online harassment and hate speech. Policy Area Protections OGP Value Civic Participation Degree of Difficulty Foundational Government Branch Legislative	Civic Participation	Foundational	Legislative
Protections	Create protections against retaliatory lawsuits Create or strengthen legislation to prevent strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs), which are used to silence journalists and human rights defenders. Examples of anti-SLAPP measures are as follows. Allow for the early dismissal of abusive lawsuits in court. Establish penalties for those who file abusive lawsuits, including fines. Enable the recovery of legal costs incurred by defendants who face abusive lawsuits. Policy Area Protections OGP Value Civic Participation Degree of Difficulty Intermediate Government Branch Legislative	Civic Participation	Intermediate	Legislative
Protections	Co-create laws on media ownership Involve civil society and media outlets in the development of laws around media ownership to encourage media pluralism while ensuring legality, minimal interference, and proportionality in response. This may include negotiating rules on the independence of state-funded media, political party ownership of media, media ownership transparency, and transparency of state advertising in media outlets. Policy Area Protections OGP Value Civic Participation Degree of Difficulty Advanced Government Branch Legislative	Civic Participation	Advanced	Legislative
Capacity Building	Train public officials Establish training programs on respecting and protecting expression for public officials, including judicial officers and prosecutors. All public officials in state authorities responsible for interacting with journalists should participate. Include training on the rights of journalists and other media workers to cover protests and other assemblies, especially for security forces. Policy Area Capacity Building OGP Value Civic Participation Degree of Difficulty Intermediate Government Branch Executive	Civic Participation	Intermediate	Executive
Capacity Building	Provide safety training for CSOs and media workers Establish training programs on physical, digital, and psychological safety for CSOs and media workers. Policy Area Capacity Building OGP Value Civic Participation Inclusion Degree of Difficulty Intermediate Government Branch Executive	Civic Participation Inclusion	Intermediate	Executive
Capacity Building	Provide legal counsel and rights training for CSOs and media workers Ensure CSOs and media workers know their rights and obligations under the law, and facilitate access to counsel, including sound legal and accounting advice. Educate and engage broader civil society about their obligations to publicly defend activists and journalists, including online. Policy Area Capacity Building OGP Value Civic Participation Degree of Difficulty Advanced Government Branch Executive	Civic Participation	Advanced	Executive
Capacity Building	Allocate public funding Explore options for financial support to the media, such as establishing a national fund for public interest media. This should include safeguards to ensure that political interest cannot influence funding allocations. Policy Area Capacity Building OGP Value Civic Participation Degree of Difficulty Intermediate Government Branch Legislative	Civic Participation	Intermediate	Legislative
Data	Mandate the collection and publication of data on violence Mandate an agency to collect, publish, and communicate official open data on killings, harassment, and other forms of violence against media workers and human rights defenders. This reporting should also be submitted to public oversight by the legislature with adequate privacy protections, especially where threats include sexual assault. Data should be disaggregated along lines of socio-economic status, sex, gender, and other identifying markers to better understand how threats may disproportionately affect certain groups. Policy Area Data OGP Value Transparency Inclusion Degree of Difficulty Advanced Government Branch Legislative	Transparency Inclusion	Advanced	Legislative
Sanctions	Update criminal statutes Remove any statutes of limitations to investigate crimes against the freedom of expression and establish targeted sanctions for crimes against media workers and human rights defenders. Policy Area Sanctions OGP Value Public Accountability Degree of Difficulty Foundational Government Branch Legislative	Public Accountability	Foundational	Legislative
Sanctions	Investigate and prosecute cases of violence and harassment Investigate and prosecute violence and harassment against media workers and other civil society actors to ensure access to justice and end impunity. Policy Area Sanctions OGP Value Public Accountability Degree of Difficulty Intermediate Government Branch	Public Accountability	Intermediate
Sanctions	Create a mechanism to compensate victims Establish a mechanism to provide adequate levels of compensation for victims of crimes against activists and media workers. Policy Area Sanctions OGP Value Public Accountability Degree of Difficulty Advanced Government Branch Legislative	Public Accountability	Advanced	Legislative

Examples of Reforms from OGP and Beyond

The following examples are commitments previously made within or beyond OGP that demonstrate elements of the recommendations made above. A small number of OGP countries with problems in freedom of expression have undertaken commitments in this area, speaking to the need for greater focus on protecting this right.

OGP Reforms

COLOMBIA Open Data Archive on Past Conflict: Created a national archive on the victims of its armed conflict, with 240,000 documents made public in an open data format by the second year.
CROATIA Media Regulations to Protect Journalists: Committed to reforming the framework to regulate the media, improve transparency, protect journalists, and prevent the publication of fake news.
NIGERIA Co-creation and Dialogue on Civic Space: Committed to creating new safeguards to protect free expression and media freedom for CSOs and the general public.

Beyond OGP Action Plans

CZECH REPUBLIC Emergency Safe Refuge Visas: Provided over 800 visas to human rights defenders and journalists from February 2022–2023, collaborating with CSOs to process some visa applications as quickly as 72 hours.
SIERRA LEONE National Framework for the Safety of Journalists: Passed a national framework for the safety of journalists, developed in coordination with media workers.
UNITED KINGDOM Protections against SLAPPs: Published and responded to a Call for Evidence on SLAPPs, and committed to introducing legislation to address this threat to free expression and media freedom, including an early dismissal process and cost protections for defendants.

Who is working on this topic?

C

Canada

Chile

Croatia

E

Ecuador

H

Honduras

I

Indonesia

Italy

J

Jordan

K

Kenya

M

Mexico

Mongolia

Montenegro

N

Nigeria

Norway

R

Republic Of Korea

S

Slovak Republic

Spain

U

Ukraine

United Kingdom

United States

Uruguay

This list reflects members with commitments in the “Freedom of Expression” policy area of the Data Dashboard.

Active OGP Partners

The following organizations have recently worked on this issue in the context of OGP at the national or international level. They may have additional insights on the topic. Please note that this list is not exhaustive. If you are interested in national-level initiatives, please contact research@opengovpartnership.org.

Benchmarking Data

The OGP 2023-2028 Strategy sets out the Open Gov Challenge and aims to provide clear benchmarks for performance through reliable data.

While benchmarks for individual countries and Open Gov Guide recommendations are not yet integrated, for this chapter, interested individuals may rely on the following data sets:

The CIVICUS Monitor tracks data related to civic space in 196 countries to determine whether a country is closed, repressed, obstructed, narrowed, or open.
The Freedom House Freedom in the World report analyzes the state of political and civil rights in 195 countries and 15 territories.
International IDEA’s Democracy Tracker provides monthly updates to global events with the potential to impact the state of democracy and human rights in 173 countries. This tracker is part of the organization’s Global State of Democracy Initiative.
The V-DEM Dataset provides a comprehensive analysis of democracy ratings, including indicators on civic space.
The World Justice Project’s Rule of Law Index analyzes different dimensions of governance in 140 countries and jurisdictions, including several related to civic space.
OGP commitments on this topic can be found on the Data Dashboard.

Guidance & Standards

While the list below is not exhaustive, it aims to provide a range of recommendations, standards, and analysis to guide reform in this policy area.

An overview of recommendations and guidance related to this topic can be found in the OGP Support Unit’s Global Report. The OGP Support Unit also provides a set of recommendations on how to engage the media in open government planning.
The Media Freedom Coalition (MFC) is a partnership made up of member states that work with civil society actors, legal experts, and international bodies like the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The High Level Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom is the independent advisory body to the Coalition. The High Level Panel has produced a series of enforcement reports and recommendations for MFC member states that focus on improving international mechanisms to enforce international human rights norms for the safety of journalists and the protection of media freedom.
The UN Development Programme and the ICNL collaborated on a toolkit outlining the legal frameworks for civic space. The toolkit includes guidance on protecting the rights to free expression, free assembly, and free association.
Article 19’s Law and Policy webpage houses an extensive collection of their toolkits, recommendations, and analysis related to free expression threats worldwide.

CPJ provides guidance on digital safety kits for journalists, physical safety resources, and information related to detention and arrest.
IFEX has published several types of guidance to navigate and understand how the UN system can be used to protect the freedom of expression and media freedom. Resources explain how special procedures work, how the UN monitors resolutions on the safety of journalists (including the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists), and how UNESCO reports on issues of safety and impunity related to journalists.
TheEuropean Center for Not-for-Profit Law updated its handbook on how to use EU law to protect the rights of assembly, association, and expression in 2023.
UNESCO released recommendations to expand lessons learned from protecting journalists to other voices threatened by violence, such as artists living in emergency situations. It also has extensive training materials on training public officials on these rights, including guidelines for judges, prosecutors, and security forces.
The UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression published a report on protecting the right to free expression in emergency contexts, in light of the crackdowns that followed the spread of COVID-19.

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