Cooperation on Freedom of Expression
The Division for Cooperation on Freedom of Expression supports Council of Europe Member States in strengthening policies, legislation, and capacities on freedom of expression, media, and access to information, in line with European standards.
It collaborates with governments, media regulators, judiciary and law enforcement, media actors, civil society, and international bodies. The Division is advising on policies and legal frameworks, providing capacity building and awareness-raising in the following areas:
- Promoting media freedom, pluralism, and transparency, including fair and balanced media coverage of elections
- Enhancing media literacy and countering disinformation
- Ensuring journalist safety, combatting SLAPPs and defamation abuse
- Strengthening public service media and supporting regulatory authorities
- Aligning laws with European standards and ECtHR case law
- SEEDIG session - Countering harmful content and disinformation online (10 October 2025)
- High-Level Conference - Building Democratic Resilience to Disinformation - Malta (17 September 2025)
- IGF session - AI and Disinformation - Countering the Threats to Democratic Dialogue (25 June 2025)
- EURODIG pre-session - Countering disinformation and harmful content online (12 May 2025)
- Conclusions of the "Vilnius Dialogue: Fostering the Culture of Public Debate in Europe" international conference (24 October 2024)
- POLICY PAPER “Caught in a double bind: The situation of Belarusian women journalists in exile” - “Why is women journalists’ safety not seen as a priority in Belarusian exiled media? And what can be done to change this?”
- “The power of connection” - a Guide to the Belarusian independent media in exile
- RESEARCH PAPER “No motherland. How refugees lose their homes but can't get a new one”
- Regional Peer Exchange on Regulatory Approaches to Harmful Content Online: Towards alignment with European standards, including the Digital Services Act
- Strengthening Judicial Responses to Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) in the Western Balkans
- Guide on Gender Sensitive Reporting (also available in Serbian)
- Limiting the Use of Criminal Law to Restrict Freedom of Expression – a Guide to Council of Europe Standards (also available in Albanian and Serbian)
- Guide for Legal Professionals on Freedom of Expression, SLAPPs and Related ECHR Standards
- Regional Baseline Assessment of Legislative and Policy Needs for Implementing Council of Europe and European Union Standards on Countering the Use of SLAPPs”
- The Role of Regulators in Countering Harmful Content - Western Balkans Regional Peer Exchange for Regulatory Authorities
- Media Literacy Assessment in the Republic of Moldova
Belarusian journalists and media actors in exile
RESIST – Strengthening Societal Resilience to Disinformation in Europe
*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence.
