Afraid to Speak in Greece, Daily Brief May 8, 2025.

When Human Rights Watch researchers interview victims and witnesses of abuses, the interviewees often ask to remain anonymous. You can understand why. They’re living in fear – justified fear – of the consequences that could result from going public with their information.

You might not expect journalists to have such concerns. After all, they’re in the public eye sharing information under their own names every day. Or, at least, you might not expect it from journalists in a European Union member state. They’re supposedly living in a system that upholds democratic values and human rights, like freedom of speech.

Perhaps then the most revealing point in our new report on media freedom in Greece is that so few journalists we talked to were willing to be identified. They fear reprisals. And understandably so.

Greece is in a media freedom crisis today. It’s also a rule-of-law crisis and a threat to democracy.

Since the current government took office in July 2019, the environment for independent news reporting has become increasingly hostile. Our new research documents harassment by government officials, as well as intimidation, surveillance, and abusive lawsuits.

Arguably the most well-known example was from 2022, when the government was strongly suspected to have used Predator spyware to target journalists, and others.

But that was hardly an isolated case.

Journalists described to us – again, mostly anonymously – their evidence or strong suspicion of state surveillance. Some told us how they were being targeted with spyware. Others cited more old-fashioned tools, like wiretaps.

Such actions and threats by the government not only raise serious concerns regarding privacy and freedom of expression. They also send a chill through reporting.

How can journalists do their job of digging up information, when both journalists and their sources have to worry about who’s listening?

This grim situation is not helped by the high concentration of private media ownership in Greece. A few powerful individuals, many with ties to the governing party, control many media outlets.

As far as public media go, the situation is just as bad if not worse. The government has undermined the independence of both the state broadcaster and state news agency.

Another major concern is the weaponization of the legal system against journalists. This is done primarily through abusive lawsuits, a form of retaliation, often called SLAPPs (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation).

The threat of a SLAPP, along with all the other harassment and intimidation, leads journalists to pull their punches. Self-censorship is widespread.

The public is the ultimate victim here. Their right to information is shot through with holes. Democracy suffers.

None of this is how things should be, of course – especially in a member state of the European Union, pledged to uphold democratic values and human rights.

The European Commission has a responsibility to ensure these core values are upheld. It needs to get more involved to help roll back Greece’s media crisis.

Journalists should never be afraid to speak.