New Liberties Report Reveals Continued Decline of Media Freedom in the EU in 2025

20 journalists in Italy require permanent police protection due to the increasingly severe threats they face, according to a report published in April 2026 by the Civil Liberties Union for Europe (Liberties). 

Journalists’ safety across Europe has reached a critical point. In 2025, violence, smear campaigns and surveillance targeting reporters intensified, with incidents including explosive attacks in Italy and Greece. Malta was also among the countries flagged for escalating smear campaigns against journalists.

Source: Free picture from Pexels

The report published ahead of World Press Freedom Day highlights a worsening situation for media freedom and pluralism across the European Union. The Media Freedom Report 2026 found that media ownership concentration, opaque structures and political influence over state advertising are increasingly undermining independent journalism.

The report also documented a record 377 serious incidents involving threats, intimidation  and attacks against journalists, fuelled in part by the rise of online disinformation and hate speech.

According to the findings, this increasingly hostile environment has contributed to uneven levels of public trust in the media across Europe. Confidence remains relatively high in countries such as Germany (83%) and Ireland (72%), while trust is critically low in Greece, Romania and Bulgaria. 

Despite these concerns, the implementation of key EU measures, including the European Media Freedom Act and the Anti-SLAPP Directive, remains slow and, in many cases, superficial. Some Member States have even challenged the legislation at EU level. Hungary, for example, has filed a case before the Court of Justice of the European Union seeking to annul parts of the Media Freedom Act.

Eva Simon, Senior Advocacy Officer at Liberties, stressed the close connection between media freedom and democratic standards, stating:

“The foundations of democracy and the standards of the rule of law are closely linked to indicators of media freedom. Where the rule of law weakens, media freedom is immediately undermined. A healthy, pluralistic media system is a litmus test of democracy.”

She added that EU rules must not only be adopted, but also properly enforced across all Member States.

The report concludes that while some countries continue to maintain relatively high levels of trust in the media, public confidence overall remains deeply uneven across the EU, with persistent divisions compounded by the growing impact of disinformation and online hate speech.

She added that EU rules must not only be adopted, but also properly enforced across all Member States.

The report concludes that while some countries continue to maintain relatively high levels of trust in the media, public confidence overall remains deeply uneven across the EU, with persistent divisions compounded by the growing impact of disinformation and online hate speech.

The report can be found here.