No more insight?

Quotation ban: tough battle for press freedom

(Bild: stock.adobe.com)

In June, the government must create a reform for the use of data in the media. One of the issues at stake is the political dispute over the citation ban.

Discussions about the ban on quoting from files relating to ongoing proceedings. A hot topic. Even grand coalition fingers are burning and fuses are blowing. There's a lot at stake. Chats and their publication from investigation files have had a lasting impact on domestic policy in recent years. There have been resignations, new governments, committees, investigations and trials. The party most affected: the ÖVP chancellor's party.

Protection of privacy
The Constitutional Court (VfGH) brought additional momentum into the political game. In the area of editorial secrecy for the media, the supreme judges are demanding changes. Accordingly, data processing for journalistic purposes may not be exempted in principle from the provisions of data protection. This could have far-reaching consequences. For example, in the protection of sources and informants. Legislators have until June 2024 to come up with a new regulation. This is causing unrest not only within the coalition.

Alongside numerous media representatives and lawyers, the Greens fear that the media could be hindered in their important function of uncovering wrongdoing. The ÖVP, meanwhile, longs for the German model - where it is not allowed to quote verbatim from investigation files. Instead, only interpretations are published. This would increase the protection of privacy and prevent those accused from finding out about their chats from the media - as is often the case in Austria - and finding themselves pilloried in the media for years.

There is a clash between Turquoise and Green. The ÖVP is only prepared to agree to a reform of the media privilege if the Greens agree to the citation ban, according to the small coalition partner. The latter is a clear and long-standing demand of ÖVP Constitutional Minister Karoline Edtstadler. She has important supporters here, especially from lawyers and legal circles, but also opponents. According to the reform, the public prosecutor's office would have to check every article for criminal law problems. That would be a huge effort. And a cut in the freedom of the press.

Questionable German model
There could be permanent legal disputes, which could deter the media from carrying out such research. "If I always have the threat of punishment in the room, I will think twice about how I proceed," says a high-ranking lawyer.

And the German model? The Green Justice Minister has always clearly positioned herself against it and thus against the ÖVP. Argument: In Germany, this is dead law. More symbolism than reality. Rewriting facts instead of citing them is problematic. Justice spokeswoman Agnes Prammer commented on the current problem: "We consider restrictions on press freedom or even a muzzle for journalists to be the completely wrong approach - and extremely dangerous."

The new President of the Supreme Court (OGH), Georg Kodek, also said rather smugly on ORF's "ZiB 2" that he did not miss a ban on quoting.

But what do the lawyers say? Armenak Utudjian, President of the Austrian Bar Association, told "Krone": "We are still very skeptical about a general ban on quoting, because this can lead to restrictions not only on the work of journalists, but also to the curtailment of the rights of the accused. However, highly personal rights (especially privacy) should be safeguarded more strongly than before." Even if data protection is important, a softening of the "media privilege" should not lead to restrictions or even an erosion of media freedom.

Change in media law
Utudijan is, however, strictly in favor of a reform of the Code of Criminal Procedure for the evaluation of cell phones and the protection of privacy. An aspect that is ultimately also linked to the citation issue.

Norbert Wess is one of the country's most renowned criminal defense lawyers. On the one hand, he warns against media prejudgement through reporting in ongoing, mainly clamorous proceedings, but at the same time emphasizes the importance of the "fourth power in the state" to control the powerful. He pleads for a change in media law, where the problem should also be thematically correctly located. He believes it is necessary to consider tightening up the law when personal and sensitive content and data is violated. A central point in the debate about published chats in recent years. What is private, what is "abstractly" relevant? What is published?

One thing is certain: according to several stakeholders, the first draft from the Ministry of Justice - to put it politely - could be improved or revised. Time is pressing. A concrete draft must be available by mid-April in order to reach parliament in time. That sounds ambitious, given the recent history of blockades. It will take a considerable effort to reach a turquoise-green agreement.