By Natalie Alkiviadou
Introduction
The piece gives an overview of the situation of media freedom and pluralism in the Republic of Cyprus. The Republic of Cyprus has de jure sovereignty over the entirety of the island. In practice, however, its governance is confined to the southern region while the northern part of the island is administered by the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), an entity recognized solely by Turkey. In this light, the current piece focuses on media pluralism within the areas which the Republic of Cyprus has control over.
Cyprus’s constitution provides for the right to freedom of expression and in 1989 the Cyprus News Agency Law was adopted. As a Member State of the European Union, the Cypriot legal framework has been further shaped by laws such as the Media Freedom Act (EMFA), the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD) and the Digital Services Act (DSA).
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Natalie Alkiviadou is a Senior Research Fellow at The Future of Free Speech. Her research interests lie in the freedom of expression, the far-right, hate speech, hate crime, and non-discrimination.