CLOSE
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
See All News
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…
Special Call: Grants for Strategic Litigation in Asia-Pacific
In partnership with the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law, we're calling for applications from lawyers and organisations based in the Asia-Pacific region for grants to fund strategic litigation related to media freedom. Context As part of our work to help build a strong global legal defence network for independent media, we fund strategic litigation. This…
LGBTQ+ Journalism: Freedom of Expression, Online Violence & Censorship
Online violence against LGBTQ+ journalists Online violence is a pervasive and growing problem across the media sector. As such, it has become a new frontline in the battle to ensure the safety of journalists. Not only does online violence take an enormous psychological and physical toll on journalists, it limits the information that we as…
We are recruiting for a Network Coordinator: Legal Network for Journalists at Risk
Network Coordinator: role summary Media Defence is looking for a highly motivated individual to join the team as a Coordinator for the Legal Network for Journalists at Risk (LNJAR). Media Defence is a Steering Committee Member of the LNJAR. In this role, you will oversee the day-to-day operations of the LNJAR, which provides legal support…
Webinar: “Freedom of expression in a time of war”
On Thursday July 21st, 11am BST, we’re hosting a webinar to explore the impact of conflict on freedom of expression. We’ll hear from those directly involved about the violence journalists experience, and the longer-term implications of war on press freedoms. Register here. The Context War reporting by independent journalists is essential to ensuring the public…
Lawyer Impact Survey 2021
About the survey In 2021, we carried out our second Lawyer Impact Survey to assess the impact of our support to lawyers. We support lawyers with both our emergency defence and our strategic litigation programmes. Through these programmes, we offer pro bono legal support, as well as financial support for lawyers in order to cover…