UK Media Freedom Forum

City St George’s, University of London, the Foreign Policy Centre (FPC), the Justice for Journalists Foundation (JFJ) and the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) are pleased to announce the second UK Media Freedom Forum will take place on Thursday 5 and Friday 6 March 2026.

Today, media freedom faces an ever complex range of challenges, with an interconnectivity between the domestic and global environment. Although the last United Kingdom (UK) government positioned itself as a global leader on media freedom, and made it a foreign policy priority, a gap appeared between stated commitments and delivery.

This two-day Forum will explore a number of themes impacting media freedom around the world, including the use of lawfare and strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs), transnational repression, misinformation and disinformation, and media literacy.

Through utilising both a local and international lens, the conference will also allow for an assessment of the effectiveness of the UK as well as other States’ involvement with global initiatives, including the 51-State Members of the MFC, and engagement at multilateral fora, such as the United Nations, OSCE and Council of Europe (CoE) when it comes to taking concrete action to defending media freedom.

Over a year into its term, the UK government continues to shape its approach to media freedom. With growing attention on the challenges of disinformation and foreign interference, organisers believe that by bringing together key representatives of civil society and policy makers, the Forum will not only provide space to evaluate the extent of existing and emerging problems, but also act as a vehicle through which possible solutions could be identified and discussed directly with law and policy makers in the run up to the May local elections in the UK and the anticipated King’s Speech in Parliament.

Find more information, including the programme and the speakers list, here.