Blueprint for Free Speech
Budget
€158,042
EP Access
0
accredited persons
Staff
4
1.25 FTE
EU Grants
€31,677
Mission & Goals
As a civil society, not for profit organisation, B4FS works internationally to promote the right to freedom of expression with no undue interference or intrusion. Our research and advocacy strive to defend Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which asserts the right to freedom of opinion and expression for all people. Our initiatives seek to: Build a society free from barriers to free speech Enrich public debate in the field of freedoms law through evidence and research Support and provide research and tools to civil society, policy-makers, leaders and journalists Expose and deter crime and corruption through public-interest whistleblowing Enhance citizen participation and awareness of their rights
EU Legislative Interests
*The passage and implementation of the EU Directive regarding SLAPPs (Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation) The purpose of this Directive is to protect journalists and human rights workers from abusive cross-border civil proceedings. *The implementation and national transposition of the EU Directive protecting whistleblowers in the public interest ('the directive on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law into their legal framework (Directive (EU) 2019/1937)').
Communication Activities
B4FS has: conducted surveys, analysed laws and proposed laws (particularly national transpositions of EU Directives), written reports based on these, made short videos on these topics (e.g. interviews with whistleblowers across the EU to explain what they do and why they are important in reducing corruption), presented our research and analysis in public and parliamentary forums, co-organised events at EU parliament, appeared at public conferences as speakers and panellists to bring accurate information to the citizenry, supported the development and maintenance of online free tools for other civil society organisations (e.g. decision and assessment tools to determine compliance by states with the elements of an EU Directive), built and maintained free, open source software that supported journalist and media, provided free cybersecurity training to ensure that journalists, media, and civil society are not undermined by data breaches, gathered data about abuses against freedom of expression particularly journalists, academics, researchers and human rights workers and sought to provide support to these victims.
Interests Represented
Does not represent commercial interests
Member Of
Members of the Coalition Against SLAPPs ('CASE Coalition') https://www.the-case.eu Members of the NoSLAPP Coalition in Germany (https://arbeitsunrecht.de/no-slapp-anlaufstelle-zum-schutz-publizistischer-arbeit-in-deutschland-nimmt-arbeit-auf/) Associate Membership in Whistleblowing International Network (https://whistleblowingnetwork.org/Home)
Organisation Members
https://www.blueprintforfreespeech.net/en/about-us/partners Fundación Internacional Baltasar Garzon (FIBGAR) (SPAIN) Media Development Center, Sofia (MDC) Bulgaria Gong (Croatia) The Cyprus University of Technology (CUT) the Budapest Center for Independent Journalism (CIJ) Aditus Foundation (Malta) OKO.press, a non-profit, invesitgative journalism and fact-checking project (Poland) The Center for Independent Journalism (Romania) MEMO 98 (Slovakia) Institute for Culture of Diversity (Slovenia) And in Germany https://arbeitsunrecht.de/no-slapp-anlaufstelle-zum-schutz-publizistischer-arbeit-in-deutschland-nimmt-arbeit-auf/ Die Aktion gegen Arbeitsunrecht, Reporter ohne Grenzen, Deutscher Journalisten-Verband, Deutsche Journalistinnen- und Journalisten-Union in ver.di (dju) und Frag den Staat bieten Information, Beratung und Training gegen Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation in Deutschland.
Commissioner Meetings
No recorded meetings with EU commissioners.