Journalists operate in increasingly suffocating atmosphere in Spain
Polarization and attempts by far-right party to smear fact-checkers and journalists undermine media freedom across the country.
Amidst the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, Spain’s far-right party, Vox introduced a bill to Parliament which aims to regulate fact-checking news outlets in Spain. The text, published on July 17, explicitly forbids the verification of any statement on “social media, blogs, generic websites, print, online outlets and broadcasters“ unless the media organization publicly states its affiliation, if any, to a political party, government or ideology.
The bill also prohibits the fact-checking of “opinions” and includes a provision by which fact-checkers can be held legally liable for labelling them as ‘fake news’. Here MFRR partner, International Press Institute explores what this means for media freedom across the country
