‘The Surveillance States’, a multimedia exhibition based on BIRN’s extensive research into the covert monitoring of journalists in 15 countries in Central and South-East Europe, opened on Wednesday at the Historical Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo.

Organized by BIRN, the exhibition seeks to give a deeper insight into the surveillance of journalists from the authoritarian Communist period to the present day.

The exhibition includes video testimonies from journalists who have been the targets of surveillance in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Kosovo, Moldova, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia.

Three journalists from Romania were included in the exhibition

Alexandru Costache, G4Media

The investigation established that 11 people were involved in the surveillance,
and that they were paparazzi, or they presented themselves as such… they
were journalists, they said, journalists at Gândul [online newspaper]. A good
cover for them, for presenting themselves as journalists, they could not be
asked who sent them there, or who gave them the information that we are
meeting there. They obviously invoked the confidentiality of the source, and
could not be questioned on this matter.

Alex Costache, Romanian journalist

Emilia Sercan, independent journalist

The worst consequences of my work would be, briefly, death threats,
surveillance, the use of compromising material to discredit, online violence,
online harassment and other forms of pressure.

Emilia Sercan, independent Romanian journalist

Liana Ganea, Active Watch

The most serious forms of threats or pressure take the form of physical
aggression. Of course that’s where we have the biggest problems and the
biggest fears. And there have been cases of such physical aggression.
One serious case involved a team, not necessarily of journalists, but of people
documenting illegal logging.

Liana Ganea, Active Watch

Journalists are constantly surveilled, monitored and threatened in Romania, and, case after case, people realize this is ongoing. There are no accidents or confusion – politicians want journalists to feel unsafe and constantly threatened so as not to publish their investigation. As long as corruption exists, politicians will always be interested in buying or threatening journalists to keep their mouths shut and stop investigations altogether.

The state of press freedom is deteriorating in Romania, and this is not only visible for the journalists living and working in Romania, but it is also mentioned, year after year, by international press freedom monitoring institutions.

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Additionally, imbalanced enforcement of data protection laws and slow processing of freedom of information requests hinder the free flow of information. This article aims to provide an overview of the current situation and highlight some of the challenges journalists face in the EU, focusing on Romania, as extracted from the latest report on the State of Press Freedom in the EU.

National Security as a Pretext for Restricting Freedom of Expression in Romania

The report’s findings include that in countries like Romania and Slovakia, growing concerns have arisen that national security is being used as an excuse to draft laws restricting freedom of expression. Such laws often pose a threat to media freedom and limit the ability of journalists and media outlets to report on critical issues.

Some platforms are labelled as “pro-Russian” and treated as an enemy during the war, while others are subject to public criticism for publishing against the Government’s foreign policy directives. Such practices are standard in Romania, and the freedom of speech has been replaced by what we can call “conditioned freedom of speech” – you are allowed to speak and publish freely as long as you don’t disturb the current establishment.

Lack of Transparency in Funding Allocation by the Romanian Government

In Romania, there is no transparency in the funding allocation by political parties, as quoted in the report. Public funds are used to bribe media outlets, as happened during the pandemic. This way, newspapers have become political party propaganda tools. Civil society actors have attempted to expose this issue through freedom of information requests, but the parties have declined to disclose information.

There was an intention to support the press during the pandemic. Still, beyond the Government’s intention, one cannot help asking: how many publications avoided criticizing the authorities just because they paid the publications with public funds?

The Case of Emilia Șercan

The case of Emilia Șercan is presented separately in the report. Romanian investigative journalist Emilia Șercan published an investigation in early 2022 that claimed Romania’s Prime Minister had plagiarized his doctoral thesis. Shortly after, Șercan received a threat from a stranger containing personal photos of her. Despite reporting the incident to the police, the screenshots she sent were leaked, leading her to file several criminal complaints against the police and the Minister of Interior. The journalist’s case is the subject of seven criminal cases at various stages in several institutions.

Notably, officers from the Romanian Police Academy are the accused in this case, as they are charged with threatening the journalist to abandon the investigation.

Increasing Censorship and Content Restrictions

The report mentions that civil rights organizations in Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Ireland, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain report increased censorship and content restrictions. Public order and security are being used as arguments to propose new laws allowing for even further restrictions on free speech.

This is not good news for the evolution of the Romanian press or civil society, as pressures against the press mean less information and less freedom for the whole society.

As the European Union continues to grapple with the challenges surrounding freedom of expression and information, it is essential to protect the rights of journalists and media outlets to ensure a healthy democratic environment. The abovementioned cases are just a few examples of journalists and civil society actors’ ongoing struggles. Ultimately, the EU must address these issues and ensure that the fundamental principles of press freedom are upheld.

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Google has announced relationships with 16 national Romanian media, including broadcasters and newswires, according to a press statement from the company. These publications provide significant news coverage to people all throughout the country.

In the future, Google will continue to collaborate with other Romanian news partners to offer more content.

Today we’re announcing our latest initiative to support journalism in Romania by rolling out Google News Showcase, our product and licensing programme for news publishers.. Through Google News, Top Stories on Search and more, we help people find links to stories and help publishers find readers. Beyond this, we invest in products, funding and programs to support the news industry with the Google News Initiative. That includes supporting 16 Romanian publishers through the Digital News Innovation Fund with 1.8M euros in funding and providing emergency financial support to more than 50 publishers through the Journalism Emergency Relief Fund during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2015, we’ve also provided training to close to 900 journalists in Romania to help them research, verify and visualise their stories.

Google press release

With this new experience, the firm provides publishers with a number of News Showcase panel layouts to employ in order to provide further context to stories and to add linked articles, timelines, and other features. The panels provide news organizations with more direct control over their presentation and branding, allowing them to be more visible to both long-time readers and newcomers.

News Showcase panels can be found on Google News and Discover, and they drive users to full articles on publishers’ websites, allowing them to build stronger ties with their customers. Participating publishers will get monthly licensing fees from Google in addition to the revenue generated directly from these highly engaged readers.

Since its worldwide launch in October 2020, News Showcase has signed agreements with over 1,500 news organizations around the world and has expanded to 16 countries: India, Japan, Germany, Portugal, Brazil, Austria, the United Kingdom, Australia, the Czech Republic, Italy, Colombia, Argentina, Canada, Ireland, Slovakia, Poland, and now Romania.

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According to research, Romanian media funding processes are frequently unclear, if not outright corrupt. While the most extensive media companies are self-sufficient, most rely on outside funding, including grants. “Using public cash to buy favourable media coverage is a common political tactic,” according to the report.

According to Reporters Without Borders, “attacks against journalists and activists are rising.” This is as true as can be, and the cases in Romania are numerous. It’s worth mentioning the case of the journalist who was beaten for trying to prove illegal deforestation in Romania in September 2021.

Oversight remains a concern, with Parliament passing a law provision – presently being evaluated by the Constitutional Court – that would broaden the extent of interception of electronic communications, including intelligence services,” according to the report.

The media in Romania lack independence and are victims of attempts to interfere, particularly when appointing the heads of public radio and television, but also of the National Audiovisual Council. The latter has also blocked information on the ownership of audiovisual media, under the pretext of protecting personal data. The aggressive political rhetoric against journalists has been taken up by the new populist-nationalist party AUR, which is also the fourth political force in the Romanian Parliament.

Reporters Without Borders Report on Romania

The analysis also indicates that, despite conforming with European standards, legislation safeguarding freedom of expression and freedom of the press is not adequately implemented, including at the constitutional level.

Romania can boast of a diverse, relatively pluralistic media landscape that produces hard-hitting public interest investigations. Pressure from owners, lack of transparency in financing or market difficulties, however, hamper the reliability of the information.

Reporters Without Borders Report on Romania

On the other hand, in 2022, the Republic of Moldova improved 49 to 40th place, 16 spots ahead of Romania. It is a significant improvement for the Republic of Moldova, rated 91st in 2020 and 2021.

According to RSF, the media in the Republic of Moldova is divided into pro-Russian and pro-Western camps, with oligarchs and political elites exerting significant influence over editorial positions.

While part of the media dares to deal with subjects that are embarrassing for the authorities, many confine themselves to following the political agenda of the party to which they are affiliated. Until its revocation by the new parliamentary majority elected in 2021, the Audiovisual Council granted broadcasting licenses to television channels close to the socialists, which multiply the rebroadcasts of propaganda content produced in Russia.

Reporters Without Borders Organization

The analysis also demonstrates that Russia’s (155th) invasion of Ukraine (106th) at the end of February illustrates a degrading proca propaganda war preceded the armed confrontationanda war.

The indicators are assessed in the 180 countries and territories covered in the RSF’s index based on a quantitative assessment of breaches and abuses of press freedom against journalists and the media and a qualitative study based on replies from one hundred press freedom specialists.

It is said that journalism is the watchdog of democracy. In Romania, if you are looking from a subjective perspective, most journalists no longer defend democracy but their own interests. Thankfully, there are still people that are fighting for the truth. But, their job is often among the most difficult jobs when it comes to investigative journalism and exposing illegalities. Romanian journalists are frequently insulted or threatened by government officials and politicians or other figures in leadership positions.

The irony is that after so many years since Romania has been a democratic country, it has not learned that the most incredible power a citizen has is the word, the freedom of expression, and the right to sanction any action that violates democratic principles. Media is an underestimated power and little used for the common good.

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The chairman of the parliamentary Commission for the control of Romanian Intelligence Service activity, Senator Ioan Chirteș, said on February 28 that the decision of the Romanian Government to block Russian sites “is absolutely necessary“.

The Government’s announcement on the measures taken by the Romanian authorities to shut down certain sources of spreading false news and misinformation is welcome. Since the beginning of the military conflict in Ukraine, information aggression has also spread in Romania. The decision to ban sites that spread fake news in our country is a very important step. In the last few days, the Romanian officials have been fighting numerous false news items which appeared in the context of the conflict in Ukraine.

Ioan Chirtes, Romanian Senator

Russia Today will no longer broadcast in Romania, and the other site of Russian propaganda, Sputnik, will be blocked as well. The lists of sites that will be blocked in Romania include: ru.md.sputniknews.ro, md.sputniknews.com, ro.md.sputniknews.com, profitsmall.com, yourincome.site, citeșteșitu.com, rtnews.ro, cloudx.ro.

I will continue to monitor the situation regarding the disinformation phenomenon in Romania, together with my parliamentary colleagues from the Control Commission. At the Commission, we constantly make sure that the decision-makers of the Romanian state receive relevant information promptly. I am glad to see the authorities are taking that action. Misinformation is one of the powerful weapons used by Russia in this senseless conflict because the truth does not justify their actions.

Ioan Chirtes, Romanian Senator

The decision regarding the blocking of the Russian news site in Romania comes after the head of the European Commission announced the ban on Russia Today and Sputnik from across the European Union. Many EU countries have banned these news sites following misinformation caused by Russian propaganda about the situation between Russia and Ukraine. Through these measures, Romania joins the decisions made at the European level to confront increased information aggressions in the context of Russia’s attacks on Ukraine.

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