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What We Do
Emergency Defence
We fund legal defence for journalists and independent media across the world.
Strategic Litigation
We take on strategic cases to promote and improve media freedom.
Capacity Building
We build local legal capacity to defend journalists through legal training and by funding local legal centres to defend journalists.
What’s new
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Freedom of expression in Poland: legal harassment against journalists and widening political control over the media
Welcome to the latest instalment of our Partners blog series. In this series, we interview our partners from around the world about their critical work in protecting freedom of expression. This time our communications assistant Julie Reintjes spoke to Konrad Siemaszko, who works as a lawyer for the Poland-based Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (HFHR).…
Call for Consultants: Independent Evaluation of ‘Empowering Women in Digital Rights Advocacy’ project
The consultancy We are looking to engage an experienced evaluation consultant to carry out an interim and final evaluation of one of our projects. The project, called Empowering Women in Digital Rights Advocacy (EWDRA), is based in sub-Saharan Africa and began late last year. In addition, the consultant will conduct independent research with an intersectional…
Spying in the digital age: The use of spyware against journalists
Spyware and freedom of expression Encryption is a valuable tool for freedom of expression online. It allows journalists, lawyers, human rights activists, and citizens to communicate securely. In recent years however, journalists around the world have experienced increasing digital surveillance, despite encryption becoming more accessible. In particular, investigative journalists uncovering corruption, abuse of power, and…
We’re recruiting: Grants Officer
Role Summary The Grants Officer plays a key role at Media Defence, administering the grants that we make to partner organisations, helping assess grant applications, and helping with communications via social media and other channels. As Grants Officer, you will also manage and administer our financial grants and non-financial support to journalists facing legal action,…
Call for Consultants: Update of Content for Resource Hub on Digital Rights
The Consultancy We are looking to hire a consultant to review and update the existing Resource Hub content. The Resource Hub covers digital rights and freedom of expression online for practicing lawyers in East, West and Southern Africa. Background The Resource Hub is structured as an entry point to all of Media Defence’s training materials…
Judgment: ECOWAS Court finds Nigeria violated freedom of expression with Twitter blocking
On 14 July 2022, the ECOWAS Court handed down an important decision for freedom of expression and digital rights. It found that Nigeria, by blocking access to Twitter, violated the rights of the Plaintiffs: five Nigerian NGOs and four journalists. The ECOWAS Court ordered Nigeria to put in place a legal framework that is consistent…