Strengthening press freedom at home and abroad: 10 recommendations for the world’s democracies

The International Press Institute (IPI) offered ten recommendations for what democratic governments must do to better protect press freedom at home and globally:

1. Protect press freedom at home.
2. Avoid enacting or applying laws that can be modelled by authoritarian regimes to restrict the press.
3. Ensure regulation of social media and online spaces is consistent with international human rights standards.
4. Ensure that the fight against disinformation is not used to restrict freedom of expression, which gives cover to repressive regimes to do much worse.
5. Refrain from engaging in or enabling unlawful surveillance of journalists and civil society.
6. Show zero tolerance for attacks on the press.
7. Support multilateral institutions and mechanisms that defend human rights and press freedom.
8. Support the work of civil society organizations that promote and defend press freedom.
9. Make the promotion and protection of press freedom core elements of foreign policy – and hold other governments accountable for crimes against journalists or attacks on the media.
10. Create an enabling environment for press freedom.

Read the full set of recommendations on the IPI website here.