The Platform for the Promotion of Press Freedom and the Protection of Journalists

The Platform for the Promotion of Press Freedom and the Protection of Journalists, in cooperation with the Slovak National Centre for Human Rights (SNSLP), acts as the national committee within the Council of Europe Campaign for the Safety of Journalists.

The Platform is a permanent expert coordinating body for issues of implementation of commitments arising from international and national initiatives to promote press freedom and protect journalists.

Composition of the Platform

The Platform is chaired by the National Contact Point notified to the Council of Europe within the Council of Europe Campaign for the Safety of Journalists

The Platform is composed of representatives of

the Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic
the Ministry of Justice of the Slovak Republic
the Presidium of the Police Force of the Slovak Republic
the Slovak National Centre for Human Rights
the Public Defender of Rights
the Council for Media Services
the Office for the Protection of Whistleblowers
the Government Plenipotentiary for the Development of Civil Society
the Public broadcasting service
the Association of Print and Digital Media,
the Association of Television Broadcasters of Slovakia,
the Association of Radios of Slovakia,
the Print and Digital Council of the Slovak Republic,
Reporters without Borders,
the Ján Kuciak Investigative Centre,
three persons working at least at the level of editor-in-chief or editor in a media outlet with nationwide coverage that has signed up to the Code of Ethics of a Journalist of the Association for the Protection of Journalistic Ethics in the Slovak Republic or has had its own code of ethics for more than five years, which meets the standards at least at the level of the Code of Ethics of a Journalist and is voluntarily subordinated to a recognized self-regulatory body in the field of ethical self-regulation of journalists. These are elected by the members of the platform upon the proposal of one of the members and have the same rights and status as other members of the platform.

Slovak National Committee of the CoE SOJ Campaign

The Slovak National Centre for Human Rights provides administrative and technical support to the Platform and is authorized to provide administrative and technical support for activities within the framework of the RE campaign and the running of the Platform compatible with the objectives of the Council of Europe Campaign for the Safety of Journalists.

The Slovak National Centre for Human Rights is an independent institution with two mandates: national human rights institution NHRI and national equality body.

National Committees cooperate and coordinate their activities with the Council of Europe Campaign Secretariat through a designated contact point. Further interaction and activities take place with other partners/stakeholders at national and international level.

Copyright notice

Copyright notice: Logos, illustrations, pictures and documents related to the the Council of Europe Campaign for the Safety of Journalists (Journalists Matter) are sole ownership or licensed by the Council of Europe (CoE) and are used exclusively for the purpose of promoting the CoE campaign, work and documents in line with the Visibility Kit Usage Guide for the Campaign for the Safety of Journalists . Platform does not claim any rights to these. Rights to translations of the translated works are asserted by the respective authors in line with the applicable Copyright law. You may not assert the work (including text on this website) as you own or use it for commercial exploitation. You may and are invited to use any information publicly available on this website for promoting safety of Journalists, media freedom and democracy.

Developments in Slovakia since the announcement of the Campaign, including independent and civic initiatives whose activities contribute to the goals set by the Council of Europe.

In 2022, the Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic held a workshop with the Dutch platform PersVeilig, which provides broad-spectrum support to local journalists. The workshop consisted of three separate meetings, one with public administration employees with an emphasis on the police, second with journalists, publishers and broadcasters, and a third with public service media. At the same time, the Ministry of Culture, with the assistance of the Dutch Embassy, also organized a meeting of representatives of the Dutch and Slovak police on the topic of protecting journalists.
On June 22, 2022, Act No. 264/2022 Coll. on Media Services and Act No. 265/2022 Coll. on Publications entered into force. This comprehensive legal regulation in the field of media services, among other things: enshrines the protection of sources, sets out the principles of the right to information and pluralism of information, defines community media, introduces rules to ensure transparent financing of media and transparency of personnel and property relations, provides a framework definition of the media market and enables the existence of self-regulatory mechanisms for the media sector. The above also applies to the area of printed and electronic periodicals, as well as online news media. The new legal regulation was also positively assessed by the European Commission and abroad.
In February 2023, the Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic, under the auspices of the Media Freedom Coalition (MFC), organized an international conference (mediafreedom2023.eu), which addressed the topics of the EU legislative proposal on EMFA, SLAPP initiatives, editorial independence of journalists and the safety and protection of journalists. The Ján Kuciak Investigative Center presented the first results and findings of its survey on the safety of journalists in Slovakia. The conference was attended by panelists from the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF), Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the European Commission, the Dutch and Slovak governments, as well as other media and journalist representatives.
In March 2023, the bezpecna.zurnalistika.sk initiative was officially launched, the main coordinator of which is the independent Ján Kuciak Investigative Center. It is a state-independent response mechanism for the protection of journalists in the country, the main goal of which is to ensure the monitoring of the protection of journalists. In addition to monitoring, bezpecna.zurnalistika.sk also provides support services for journalists at risk, such as free legal aid, a telephone line available for journalists in need, access to contact points within the Slovak Police Force, and security training. The Safe.Journalism.sk initiative also offers free support in the event of online threats.
In accordance with the public statement made by the President of the Slovak Police Force during the conference organized by the Ministry of Culture (mediafreedom2023.eu) the police established on 1 September 2023 a contact point in each of its regional directorates, which journalists can contact and report attacks via the bezpecna.zurnalistika.sk initiative. The main coordinator of these contact points is the ICJK.
In accordance with the commitments arising from the RE Campaign, in October 2023, the Ministry of Culture established the Platform for the Promotion of Press Freedom and the Protection of Journalists as a permanent coordinating body for matters related to the implementation of commitments arising from national and international initiatives to promote press freedom and protect journalists.
In 2025, the Media Services Council registered the Association for the Protection of Journalistic Ethics AONE (Optional Protocol to the Code of Ethics for Journalists on the Protection of Human Dignity, Humanity and Minors and the Second Optional Protocol to the Code of Ethics for Journalists on Public Access to Information, Diversity of Information, Plurality of Opinions, Objectivity and Impartiality) in the list of self-regulatory bodies. Based on this, if the Media Services Council registers a request for review concerning a content service provider that has committed to comply with the code enforced by the self-regulatory body, it will forward this request to the relevant self-regulatory body. Until 2025, the only self-regulatory body involved in the co-regulation mechanism was the Advertising Council (since 2023).

The National Platform for the Promotion of Press Freedom and the Protection of Journalists was temporarily suspended due to inability to reach a quorum. At the end of 2025, an agreement was reached with the members of the platform to continue its activities and supplement missing nominations. After the addition of the missing members of the national platform, its functionality was restored.

In 2026, the Platform for the Promotion of Press Freedom and the Protection of Journalists launched a website, to provide information to the professional and general public on issues of press freedom and the safety of journalists, including the implementation of the objectives of the Council of Europe's campaign for the safety of journalists.

Developed and planned objectives, including independent and civic initiatives, whose activities contribute to the objectives set by the Council of Europe.

In 2025, a draft methodology for police procedures was developed to protect journalists at high-risk mass events; in accordance with the fulfillment of task 4.4.2 of the Strategy for the Prevention of Crime and Other Anti-Social Activities in the Slovak Republic until 2028.

At the same time, in 2025, the Slovak Police developed the Principles of Sensitive Media Reporting on Cases of Violent Extremism. The document is a recommendation and is intended to contribute to ethical reporting and the safety of journalists in the event of terrorist attacks and when reporting on them.
In connection with the resumption of the activities of the Platform for the Promotion of Freedom of the Press and the Protection of Journalists in 2026, a functional mechanism for monitoring attacks on journalists and crimes committed against journalists should be developed and submitted to the Government Council of the Slovak Republic for Crime Prevention.
In cooperation with the National Contact Point for SLAPP, the Platform for the Promotion of Freedom of the Press and the Protection of Journalists is to develop a concept for a monitoring (registration) system for SLAPP lawsuits as well as a plan for a series of trainings. The planned trainings should be implemented both for those that could become victims of SLAPPs, as well as for legal professionals including judges and lawyers.
The Resolution of the Government of the Slovak Republic of September 2025 set a deadline for developing a Strategic Plan for the Implementation of the Council of Europe Recommendation on SLAPP lawsuits, which seek to prevent the participation of the public, especially journalists, in informing about matters of public interest, by the end of May 2026.
The Slovak Government Resolution of September 2025 set a time frame for mapping and developing an implementation plan and establishing a system for monitoring and evaluating the implementation of existing recommendations to increase the safety of journalists and other media workers in the EU by the end of May 2026.
Based on the decision of the Platform Chair, a temporary Working group on assessment of the Impact of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) on News Reporting was established in 2026.
Based on the decision of the Platform Chair, a temporary Working group on assessment of Challenges of Adopting AI-Based Technologies in Newsrooms and Their Implications for the Trustworthiness of Journalism was established in 2026.
Involvement of higher education institutions to include knowledge of relevant aspects related to media freedom, safety of journalists and SLAPP lawsuits in their curricula, in particular for the study of law and journalism.

The Platform's scope and tasks

The Platform submits proposals to central state administration bodies and other state and public administration bodies to support freedom of the press and protection of journalists in accordance with the Constitution of the Slovak Republic, international obligations of the Slovak Republic, obligations arising from the Slovak Republic's membership in the European Union, laws and other generally binding legal regulations and recommendations of expert bodies and institutions of the European Union, the Council of Europe, the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and other international bodies, organizations, agencies, institutions and supranational initiatives,
It participates in the preparation of reports on commitments to support freedom of the press and protection of journalists arising from the Slovak Republic's membership in the European Union, the Council of Europe, the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, as well as other international bodies, organizations, agencies, institutions and supranational initiatives.
At the initiative of the Government of the Slovak Republic or other relevant central state administration bodies presents proposals for partial and systemic measures to improve freedom of the press and protection of journalists in the Slovak Republic.
Presents analyses, draft opinions and resolutions on draft laws, generally binding legal regulations, as well as government, departmental and other measures of a non-legislative nature that may have an impact on the level of freedom of the press and protection of journalists.
Participates in the process of creating strategies and action plans and monitors the implementation of strategies and action plans in the area of freedom of the press and protection of journalists; if necessary, provides expert background for their implementation.
In the area of its substantive competence, it cooperates with ministries and other central state administration bodies, social partners, municipalities, higher territorial units, local state administration bodies, non-governmental organizations, scientific workplaces and academic institutions.
Encourages the dissemination and effective exchange of information, as well as the creation and dissemination of sources of statistical information in the area of its competence.
Presents analyses, draft opinions and resolutions on monitoring reports on the state of press freedom and protection of journalists in the Slovak Republic.

Status of the Platform

The Platform is a permanent, expert coordinating body for issues of implementation of commitments arising from international and national initiatives to support freedom of the press and protection of journalists.

In its activities, the Platform monitors and takes into account the international commitments of the Slovak Republic in the field of freedom of the press and protection of journalists, in particular the recommendations of expert bodies and institutions of the European Union, the Council of Europe, the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and other international bodies, organizations, agencies, institutions and supranational initiatives.

Platform Working Groups

For the needs of the platform, permanent or temporary working groups may be established to address issues related to the substantive scope of the platform, to formulate representative positions on fundamental issues within the scope of the platform or to prepare draft measures, materials or other documents submitted for discussion by the platform (expert background).

Working groups are established and abolished by the platform chairman at the proposal of the platform members or on his own initiative. Only a platform member may be a chair of a working group. The chair of a working group may also invite external experts to work in the working group.

In 2026, two temporary working groups were established. Temporary Working Group to assess the Impact of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) on News Reporting and Temporary Working Group to assess the Challenges Associated with the Adoption of AI-Based Technologies in Newsrooms and Their Implications for the Credibility of Journalism. The Working Groups are to assess the issue in particular in the context of the Slovak Republic and the impacts on media freedom in the Slovak Republic.

Further information and Contact

This page is intended to provide comprehensive information about the platform, if you require further information about this website in English, please use the translate tool in your browser. If you need to contact us, use the provided contact form.

The Platform is a professional coordination body and does not have the competence to directly resolve or accept complaints. If you have a specific problem in the area of media freedom and the protection of journalists, in the Topics section you will find basic information and links to organizations and institutions that deal with these topics and that could help you.