The implementation of international, regional and EU recommendations
While progress has been made, implementation of recommendations in the areas of safety of journalists, repealing of offence of defamation and use of SLAPPs against journalists is lacking.
According to Media Pluralism Monitor 2023, Slovakia maintains a high level of whistle-blower protection. In May 2023, Slovakia transposed the EU Whistleblowing Directive into national legislation, after more than a year since the European Commission threatened it with sanctions for delaying the transposition. According to the Council of Europe 2023 Rule of Law report, Slovakia’s Whistleblower Protection Office invests in public awareness campaigns, but low reporting in practice continues to be an obstacle.
The offence of defamation is being used to intimidate and bully journalists and the media. Defamation remains punishable in Slovakia by a prison sentence of two to eight years, one of the harshest punishments in the EU. According to Reporters without Borders, although these sentences are mostly not applied by the Slovak courts, they allow politicians and businesses to exercise pressure on journalists.
With regards to political influence of media, according to Media Monitor 2023, Slovakia has improved from high to medium risk, mainly due to the absence of evidence and indications of cases of political control over media in 2022. The lack of regulatory safeguards preventing conflict of interest in media or effective limitation of direct or indirect control of media by politicians or political parties remains a concern.
According to the Media Monitor 2023, gender equality on Slovak media remains a high risk, including in the sub-indicator of lack of representation of women in the news.