Program

For three days, journalists will meet other knowledgeable mediators of information from different regions of the world in Innsbruck. In conversations with colleagues and other experts, visitors find out what is going on behind the scenes of the information on international events, which is often hastily and superficially conveyed, and can contribute.

Current social, political and cultural developments are the focus of the debates, from book presentations, exhibitions, doc-films and audio features. The Journalismusfest Innsbruck opens a window to the complex present in which we live.

The Journalismusfest Innsbruck opens a window to the complex present in which we live.

Treibhaus

Lawsuits Jeopardising Democracy

Journalists and NGOs Need More Protection Against SLAPPs

Talk

SLAPPs – strategic and abusive lawsuits aiming at intimidating and halting critical coverage or activities by environmental or human rights NGOs. SLAPP stands for Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation. Sometimes, their aim is not even to succeed in court. Rather, their purpose is to prohibit critical public participation, one of the building blocks of democracy. Behind the suing parties, we often see financially powerful companies, lobby groups or political parties and organisations who have more money on their side than the defendants—so much more that they can put up with losing the case. The lawsuit, or just threatening to file one, aims at intimidating the other party. After abundant political efforts at European level, in spring 2024, the EU adopted a directive to protect people affected. Its implementation requires action by the individual member states.

Caterina D‘Osualdo
EU Commission, Directorate-General for Justice and Consumer Rights
Walter Strobl
Lawyer, focusing on copyright and media law, Presseclub Concordia
Philipp Wissing
Blueprint for Free Speech, Munich
Maria Windhager
Lawyer focusing on media law and fundamental rights, Vienna

Hosted by
Daniela Kraus
Secretary-General of Presseclub Concordia, Vienna

German and English with simultaneous interpretation

Immer informiert. Immer aktuell. Das Journalismusfest Innsbruck ist auch auf Instagram und Twitter.

Die Mitwirkenden

Wir freuen uns auf Journalist*innen, Wissenschaftler*innen und NGOs aus verschiedenen Regionen der Welt.

Die Schauplätze

Die Veranstaltungsorte des Festivals liegen im Zentrum von Innsbruck. Sie sind zu Fuß gut zu erreichen.

Info

Informationen über Tickets, Anreise, Unterkünfte, Öffentliche Verkehrsmittel und Aktuelles zur Region Innsbruck.

A weekend with a view

Program

Lawsuits Jeopardising Democracy