Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the security and safety of journalists throughout the world.

Media freedom is under attack across the world. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reported that 80 journalists and media workers were killed in 2018. An additional 300 are currently in detention and 60 are being held hostage. We are very concerned about the high number of countries using restrictive laws to stifle freedom of expression and prevent the functioning of an independent media.

The UK believes that access to fair and accurate information is the lifeblood of democracy. As such we are committed to the promotion of media freedom and the protection of journalists, which is why we have launched a global Media Freedom Campaign for 2019. Our aim is to shine a spotlight on media freedom, and in so doing to raise the cost to those abusing it. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office also funds a number of programmes promoting media freedom overseas through the Magna Carta Fund for Human Rights and Democracy.