Opinion: US and EU should team up to protect press freedom

Alaa Abdelfattah is still waiting. For a brief window in 2019, there was hope for the smiley, curly-haired Egyptian blogger, celebrated for his work on human rights and politics, as he was released from prison. This hope vanished when he was arrested again shortly after without charges. Like dozens of journalists jailed in Egypt, Alaa is in prison simply for speaking out against those in power. And like so many other jailed journalists, there is no end in sight. 

For global leaders on press freedom, coordinated diplomacy is not without limitations. However, at a time when COVID-19 has already claimed the life of at least one imprisoned journalist in Egypt, for others like Alaa, it may be their only hope. 

For the four years of the Trump Presidency, the EU has been isolated as an international force looking to defend press freedom. To strengthen its hand, it should seek the support of a renewed US foreign policy and make press freedom a priority for discussions when President-elect Joe Biden visits Brussels in early 2021. 

The global situation facing journalists is bleak. Last week, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued our prison census. This year saw 274 journalists languishing in prisons around the world: a record number for CPJ and the fifth consecutive year with at least 250 journalists behind bars.

Countries like Egypt, China, or Turkey have shown the EU’s limits for holding autocrats to account. The EU’s policy of silent diplomacy with President al-Sisi in Egypt has shown little impact in reversing the repression of critical journalists in the country. EU calls for the freeing of Turkish journalists have been dwarfed by the drilling crisis in the Eastern Meditarrean and the need to cooperate with President Erdogan on migration. And the bloc routinely fails to hold China to account for its rights record, as it seeks to build trade relations with the repressive superpower.

In 2015, a CPJ special report noted how the EU’s international diplomacy lacked consistency and was open to accusations of double standards, for being too soft on repressive governments who are at the same time trade partners or strategic allies. Five years on and it seems not much has changed.  

Finding fresh support from the U.S. could help unblock the path for more robust international diplomacy. This year, as social unrest erupted around the globe, EU leaders struggled to deal with fresh clampdowns.Protests following the presidential election in Belarus underscored that EU statements and sanctions must be accompanied by a further, long-term support strategy for journalists on the ground. In Ethiopia, the emergence of inter-ethnic violence raises the question of how to balance conflict resolution with the need to protect large numbers of journalists at risk. EU advocacy is being forced to be at once flexible in complex environments, and sustainable over the long term. U.S. diplomacy can help to shoulder this weight.

In order for renewed cooperation to bear fruit however, the U.S. must first contend with its own recent record on press freedom. The conspicuous lack of U.S. leadership and the open attacks on the press by President Trump have significantly increased the vulnerability of journalists. The U.S. press freedom tracker, of which CPJ is a founding member, reports a total of 311 journalists attacked and 110 journalists arrested or criminally charged so far in 2020 (although none are in prison, some still face charges).  

The worsening environment for US journalists in part explains the neglect of U.S. foreign policy: Trump has allowed autocrats to hide from traditional U.S. scrutiny of press freedom. The President has turned a blind eye to the inflamed rhetoric of Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, and to the ongoing impunity enjoyed by the Saudi authorities for the gruesome 2018 murder of Jamal Khashoggi.

But in a year like no other, one where a devastating global pandemic underscored the essential role of the press, the promise of a new administration brings with it a new opportunity for engagement. 

Both the U.S. and the EU should now examine where international coordination can yield the greatest impact, including by pressuring some of the world’s most intransigent autocrats. CPJ’s recent recommendations to the incoming Biden administration include establishing a Special Presidential Envoy for press freedom and strengthening the State Department’s support for press freedom. 

Biden’s entry to the international scene should spell a new beginning and allow both sides of the Atlantic to prioritize press freedom in their international diplomacy- together. Journalists like Alaa Abdelfattah may not be able to wait much longer.