A new 117-page report by Human Rights Watch, titled “From Bad to Worse: The Deterioration of Media Freedom in Greece,” sheds light on the increasingly hostile climate faced by independent journalists and media outlets since the New Democracy party came to power in July 2019. Drawing on interviews, personal testimonies and independent investigations, the report outlines a pattern of harassment, intimidation, surveillance, and abusive lawsuits – all contributing to widespread self-censorship and placing serious strain on press freedom in the country. The organisation also highlights the use of state funding to influence media coverage, as well as editorial interference in public broadcasting, further undermining independent journalism. These practices, according to the report, pose a direct threat to freedom of expression and the public’s right to reliable information. In response, the Greek government strongly rejected the report’s findings. In a 31-page reply, it dismissed the investigation as outdated and unrepresentative of recent developments and reforms. It also criticised the report for relying heavily on what it described as subjective accounts from journalists.

Full report here

“Emerging from a protracted period of economic, political, and social crises, coupled with the refugee crisis, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ government, elected in July 2019, has sought to project an image internationally of a forward-thinking and modern administration capable of steering Greece towards a brighter future. However, huge question marks loom over this progressive image given the well-founded human rights concerns about domestic policies that do not respect human rights, stringent anti-immigration measures, repressive policing tactics, scandals, and attempts to stifle critical voices.

These critical voices include journalists—particularly those working for independent media and foreign media outlets—activists, and civil society organizations. Journalists have become targets through various means, including through the use of spyware (such as in the Predator surveillance case) and ostensibly legal methods used to effectively harass, intimidate, and even silence dissent and investigative reporting. Online harassment campaigns, often orchestrated or encouraged by government-aligned actors, further contribute to a hostile environment for journalists. These actions, coupled with the failure of government to ensure media pluralism, government control over state media, and self-censorship by journalists and editors, have dire consequences for democracy and the public’s right to information in Greece.

Despite Greece’s obligations as a member state of the European Union, the current domestic practices, as documented in this report, demonstrate a pattern of conduct that undermines democracy and the rule of law, particularly with regards to freedom of expression and a free press. These actions contravene the EU’s fundamental values enshrined in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union, specifically respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law, and respect for human rights.

Media pluralism, meaning the existence of a diverse range of media outlets with varying ownership structures and viewpoints, is essential for healthy democracy and provides a level of independent scrutiny that helps uphold the rule of law. Human Rights Watch has found that in Greece, a largely concentrated media landscape dominated by outlets aligned with successive ruling parties, undermines such pluralism. This has developed at least in part due to inadequate legal safeguards to prevent such media concentration and undue political influence, as well as by poor implementation of the legal framework that does exist related to media regulation, ownership transparency, and competition. The effect is that media owners’ interests are able to take priority over the principles of independent journalism, which when susceptible to concerted efforts by government officials to silence independent voices, means a landscape skewed towards favorable coverage of the government. This also leads to suppression of critical reporting and the erosion of public trust in the media.

This report focuses specifically on instances where state actions undermine media freedom in ways that undermine the rule of law. It examines cases where the state has sought to control the media to reduce scrutiny and criticism of its own actions, including through incentivizing self-censorship, weakening the media’s role in holding the executive to account and undermining rights to freedom of expression and information for all in Greece, including those working in the media.

Some journalists critical of the government report facing intimidation and harassment from government officials. Evidence of state surveillance of journalists—whether through more “traditional” means such as wiretapping by state agents or by being targeted with commercial spyware—raises serious privacy and free expression concerns and risks having a chilling effect on reporting as sources fear identification, and as journalists fear for their own safety.

Another concern is that it is too easy under Greek law for powerful individuals to weaponize the legal system against critical journalists through abusive lawsuits, which are referred to as SLAPPs (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation), designed to financially exhaust and intimidate independent outlets. A central vehicle for such lawsuits is Greece’s decades-old civil defamation statute, referred to by many as the “press killer law.” Greece does not have robust anti-SLAPP safeguards to curb the misuse of its legal system to silence journalists and rights defenders. The Greek Criminal Code was recently amended to remove “simple defamation”, that is dissemination of a fact (even if true) that can be offensive to somebody’s honor or reputation, as a criminal offence. But despite a growing consensus in international law and calls by international legal experts to eliminate all criminal defamation, Greece’s laws still create criminal responsibility for the acts of insult and slanderous defamation – dissemination of a claim injurious to a person’s honor or reputation, knowing it is false – which further cast a shadow over reporting.

In 2022, a major surveillance scandal widely known as “Predatorgate,” named after the spyware Predator, became a stark symbol of the threats to press freedom in Greece. Journalists, particularly investigative reporters, were primary targets of surveillance, both through the actions of the Greek National Intelligence Service (EYP) and the use of spyware to monitor journalists’ communications. Journalists investigating the scandal were themselves placed under surveillance.

Finally, the Greek authorities’ control over public media has led to undue influence over content and editorial direction, and the government’s use of public advertising funds to support private media has been used to sway media narratives in its favor.

To address this issue, it is imperative to reverse the decree bringing the General Secretariat of Information and Communication, the supervising body of the public broadcaster (ERT) and the Athens-Macedonian News Agency, under the purview of the Prime Minister’s Office.

The journalists interviewed for this report all spoke about the stifling atmosphere in which they work, and the pervasive climate of censorship and self-censorship under which they operate.

There is growing international concern about the state of media freedom in Greece. The difficulties journalists face are reflected in Reporters Without Borders’ (RSF) World Press Freedom Index, where Greece consistently ranks at the bottom among EU member states. In February 2024, the European Parliament adopted a resolution raising serious concerns about media freedom and the rule of law in Greece. The European Commission’s Rule of Law reports have also highlighted threats to media freedom in the country, while acknowledging certain positive advances. Yet Greek authorities refuse to acknowledge there is a problem. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has dismissed the European Parliament’s resolution, for example, saying the country’s rule of law is “stronger than ever” and that “Greece in the past few years has often been at the center of slander” in connection with criticisms of his government’s human rights record.

The surveillance scandal in 2022, highlights a further concern: the government appears to proactively undermine accountability efforts that may implicate politicians and other state officials. For example, the government has invoked national security concerns to block disclosure of relevant and probative information, and the General Prosecutor has launched investigations to identify whistleblowers who have provided such information, in what seem to be calculated efforts to conceal wrongdoing. Similarly, the Petsas List scandal, involving the Greek government’s process of distributing public funds to media outlets, highlights a troubling pattern of reluctance to disclose relevant information designed to ensure transparency and accountability. The initial refusal to disclose the list of who received funding, evidence of bias in the funding, and hindering investigations, are all examples of deliberate efforts to shield decision-making from scrutiny, ultimately undermining transparency and eroding democratic principles.“

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