Media Defence

Media Defence (registered company name: Media Legal Defence Initiative) is a non-governmental organization established in 2008 to provide legal assistance to journalists, citizen journalists and independent media. It also supports training in media law and promotes the exchange of information, litigation tools and strategies for lawyers working on media freedom cases.
It is based in London and has a global network of media lawyers and media freedom activists with whom it works on cases and projects.
History.
The idea for the Media Defence originated in the aftermath of the criminal defamation trial in 2004 of Indonesian newspaperman Bambang Harymurti, editor of "Tempo" magazine (Indonesia). A group of people involved in assisting the defence of Harymurti recognised the need for an independent non-governmental organisation that would focus on providing legal support to journalists and media outlets around the world who needed assistance to defend their rights, as well as work to improve the capacity of lawyers in Southeast Asia and elsewhere to defend media freedom.
Media Defence was established as a not for profit company in June 2008 and registered as an independent charitable organisation in 2009. Gugulethu Moyo was Executive Director of Media Defence from June 2009 until July 2011. Peter Noorlander was Chief Executive between April 2011 and April 2016. The organisation's current CEO is Lucy Freeman, who joined in 2016.
Since it started operating it has provided assistance in cases in countries in Africa, Europe, Asia, North and South America.
Assistance has been provided in the form of grants to individual litigants for the payment of legal fees, grants to support the work of national non-governmental organizations that provide legal services to the media, and free legal advice.
Media Defence has also given grants to enable the training and networking of media lawyers in countries including Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Cambodia and the Philippines.
In 2020, the organisation rebranded from 'Media Legal Defence Initiative' to 'Media Defence'.
Notable cases supported.
Media Defence has supported the legal defence of numerous journalists, citizen journalists and independent media organisations, including:
Media Defence has been invited to intervene as amicus curiae in the European Court of Human Rights in the cases of Von Hannover v. Germany (2) (application no. 40660/08), adjudicated in February, 2012, on the balance between privacy and freedom of expression, "MGN Trinity Mirror v. UK", in which it argued that the high cost of defending libel cases violates the right to freedom of expression, and "Pauliukas v. Lithuania" in 2009. The European Court issued a strong ruling agreeing with Media Defence's submissions in the MGN case. Along with others, Media Defence also intervened in Max Mosley's application to the European Court of Human Rights, as to whether there should be advance notice given to targets in privacy cases, and "Sanoma v Netherlands" a case addressing the protection of journalistic sources. In both cases, its arguments were accepted by the Court. It has interventions pending in a case challenging so-called "false news" laws, prohibiting the publication of anything the authorities deem to be incorrect; and in a case concerning the abuse of criminal libel laws.
Media Defence has also been at the forefront of a campaign at the Council of Europe to address the impact that counter-terrorism laws are having on media freedom. The Council's campaign has resulted in a pledge by States to review these laws.
With the IBA and others, Media Defence also supports the development of media lawyers network in Southeast Asia.
Partners.
Media Defence works with a large network of partner organisations and individual lawyers around the world. As of December 2020, its partners include C-Libre, Human Rights Platform, Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, Media Development Center, Media Policy Institute, Ossigeno per l'informazione, The Foundation for Press Freedom (FLIP), Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, TOHAV, MLSA, Unwanted Witness, Digital Rights Lawyers Initiative and Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism.
Individual lawyers it works with include Mark Stephens CBE, Geoffrey Robertson QC, John Jones, Mark Simpson QC, Heather Rogers QC and Jessica Simor in the UK, Kurt Wimmer, Rob Balin, and Stuart Karle in the US, Mulya Lubis in Indonesia, Professor Harry Roque in the Philippines, James Nangwala in Uganda and others across the world.
Organisation and funding.
Media Defence is registered as a charity in the United Kingdom. Param Cumaraswamy, Professor Yuen-Ying Chan, Jon Snow, Adam Michnik, Geoffrey Robertson QC, Floyd Abrams, José Zalaquett, Paul Collier, Hina Jilani, Margaret Sekaggya, Mark Ellis, Wilf Mbanga and Soli Sorabjee are patrons.
Media Defence also has an International Advisory Board which includes Bambang Harymurti, Eduardo Bertoni, Beatrice Mtetwa, Mark Stephens CBE (Chair), Karinna Moskalenko, Cyril Shroff and Stuart Karle. Its trustees are Gwyneth Henderson, Martin Kramer, Stephen Tough, Professor Philip Leach, Mark Ellis and Wilf Mbanga.
Since it was established, Media Defence has received funding from donors including the Open Society Institute, the Sigrid Rausing Trust, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the William F Kerby And Robert S Potter Fund, the Adessium Foundation, Google, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and the MacArthur Foundation. As of December 2020, Media Defence's funders are Adessium Foundation, Chambers & Partners, Dow Jones, Facebook, Open Society Foundations, Hivos, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, Luminate, National Endowment for Democracy, Sigrid Rausing Trust, U.S. State Department for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Ford Foundation, Craig Newmark Philanthropies, UNESCO and Nicholas Puech Foundation.
Award.
In March 2015 the Media Defence was awarded Columbia University's inaugural Global Freedom of Expression Prize.