Press freedom appears to be shrinking in eastern Europe, as evidenced by a series of recent laws constraining free speech rights.  

The latest repressive legislation comes out of Slovakia, where a new media law, set to come into practice on June 1, will give anyone named in an article "sweeping rights to an equally prominent rebuttal," reports the Economist.  Media watchdogs have condemned the law and Slovakian newspapers are protesting by publishing issues with blank, black-framed front pages.

Right-of-reply rules are common in some European nations, but Slovakia's is the most punitive. While the Slovakian government insists the law will make the media more responsible, the concern is the potential exploitation of the law by Slovakia's Prime Minister, Robert Fico, who has a tumultuous relationship with the media.  

Bulgaria and Romania as well have laws on the books that criminalize defamation of public figures. In 2007, 100 cases went to court in Bulgaria for attacks against "honor and dignity," up from 60 the year before. And as of last year, Romania's constitutional court restored legislation making "insult" illegal, although press freedom is also curtailed by the ownership of mainstream media by politically active tycoons.   

Moreover, the annual report of Freedom House, a New York-based lobby group, shows the sharpest decline in media freedom in the world in eastern Europe, behind Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

Granted the situation is not as bad as in Russia, where Vladimir Putin shut down a paper after it ran a scandalous story on his love life. It is though a worrisome trend in a region has prided itself on its newfound freedom.

Source: Economist