Media freedom and pluralism across the EU continued to deteriorate in 2025, according to the Liberties Media Freedom Report 2026. Rising media ownership concentration, opaque ownership structures, and the politicisation of state advertising are undermining diverse and independent media markets, while political interference is increasingly weakening public service media and regulators.

At the same time, journalists’ safety has reached a crisis point, with rising violence, legal harassment, smear campaigns, and surveillance reported across several Member States. Public trust in media remains deeply uneven, with sharp divides between countries and communities, while online disinformation and hate speech continue to escalate, contributing to a record number of attacks against journalists.

Despite the adoption of new EU rules, including the European Media Freedom Act and the Anti-SLAPP Directive, implementation remains slow and often superficial. In many cases, governments continue to ignore European Commission recommendations, raising serious concerns about the EU’s ability to safeguard media freedom and pluralism across the bloc.

Eva Simon, senior advocacy officer at Civil Liberties Union for Europe (Liberties), said:

“The foundations of democracy and the standards of the rule of law are closely linked to indicators of media freedom. Where the rule of law weakens—whether through deliberate government action or neglect—media freedom is immediately undermined. A healthy, pluralistic media system is a litmus test and mirror of democracy. This is why the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) needs to be transpositioned, and more importantly, enforced as quickly and as strongly as possible across all Member States.”

Key findings of the Report are:

• Media ownership concentration continued to increase across the European Union in 2025. The limited number of media owners reduced media pluralism and diversity of opinion, making it more difficult to access balanced information. Media ownership remains opaque due to inadequate transparency obligations (with reported cases from Croatia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Slovakia, and Slovenia).
• Transparency of media ownership is an important factor for public trust. Despite the minimum rules set out in the EMFA, transparency across the EU is still inconsistent and often opaque: fragmented databases provide basic contact information but obscure ultimate beneficial owners. (Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Slovenia, Spain)
• State advertising is a vital yet frequently manipulated revenue stream for the media across the EU. While the EMFA requires transparent and objective criteria of allocation, in many Member States, state advertising is used for political influence. We see two groups here: the countries with proper transparency and dedicated enforcement efforts, and those where funding distorts the market and undermines editorial independence. (Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Slovenia) 
• Public service media serve a crucial role in democratic societies, providing access to impartial and diverse public information. The year 2025 was marked by severe systemic political interference, budget cuts, and structural changes that jeopardised its core mission. (Bulgaria, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Malta, Romania, Slovakia, Spain)
• Independence of media and telecom regulators is key to enforcement. These authorities are increasingly vulnerable to direct political pressure or indirect pressure through funding cuts. (Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain).
• Journalists’ safety reached a crisis point in 2025, marked by violence and legal harassment. Explosive attacks targeted reporters in Italy and Greece, while 20 Italian journalists now require round-the-clock police protection. Smear campaigns by officials intensified in Malta and Hungary, and violence during protests persisted in countries like France and Germany. Surveillance also remained a threat, with spyware used against journalists in Italy and Romania—despite some progress in Slovenia and Latvia. Most Member States continue to ignore recommendations to better protect journalists.
• Public trust in media across the EU remains deeply uneven. While countries like Germany (83%) and Ireland (72%) report high confidence, trust is critically low in Greece (22%), Romania (26.9%), and Bulgaria (26%). Sharp divides persist—along political, ethnic, and linguistic lines—while distrust in mainstream media is driving some audiences, such as in Hungary, toward online platforms.
• Freedom of expression continues to be undermined by online hate speech and disinformation. In 2025, there was a record number of serious incidents (377) against journalists, including death threats. (Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Romania, Slovakia)
• Implementation of the key EU media laws is behind schedule. Many Member States are still behind in passing laws to uphold EMFA, and Hungary has even filed suit at the CJEU trying to annul key parts of the law. Where the Anti-SLAPP Directive is implemented, it is to the very minimum level, so purely domestic cases are not even covered in most Member States.

Liberties Media Freedom Report 2026 is available here: https://www.liberties.eu/f/fzija7

About Liberties

The Civil Liberties Union for Europe (Liberties) is a Berlin-based civil liberties group with 24 member organisations across the EU campaigning on human and digital rights issues, including the rule of law, media freedom, civic space, SLAPPs, privacy, political advertising, election integrity, AI, and mass surveillance.

Liberties’ previous annual media freedom reports are available here: 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025. 

Press Contact: press@liberties.eu

Photo Credit: Lais Queiroz (pexels-laisqfotografia-18104761)