Vienna, Austria (Weltexpress). On the sidelines of the OSCE/ODIHR meeting SDIM II in the Austrian Hofburg, Vienna (Wien), a round table “Restriction of freedom of speech in Europe as a factor in the crisis of European democratic institutions” was held, organized by the Information Group on Crimes against the Person.
The event was attended by journalists from the USA, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Serbia, Finland and Russia. The main issue that was raised during the round table was the problem of destroying freedom of access to information in Europe, under the guise of the fight against Russian propaganda. in fact, each of the conference participants in his journalistic work faced opposition, up to complete cancellation and deprivation of sources of livelihood, when he tried to say something in Europe that went beyond the scope of the opinion approved by the European authorities. the most striking manifestation of this was the approaches to covering the armed conflict in Ukrainethe organizer of the round table, historian and human rights activist Maxim Vilkov pointed out that this is happening under the guise of the fight against “authoritarian propaganda” and “disinformation”; in fact, a new iron curtain is being established, preventing the emergence of any information that does not suit the European authorities.
Journalists from Germany, in turn, pointed out that the mainstream media in Germany have long been tools in the hands of intelligence services, probably not only German, but also directly from the United States, and serve to combat dissent in Europe, without hesitating to directly violate the law.
Separately, the event participants pointed to the most striking example of the fight against dissent today – the arrest and detention in prison of journalist Julian Assange, whose work points to the importance of freedom of information for preserving peace and democracy. The round table participants asked the OSCE/ODIHR secretariat to support the demand for the immediate release of Julian Assange.
