Journalistic Source Protection in the Age of Democratic Backsliding

Erscheinungsjahr 2026
ISBN: 978-3-032-34599-8
Verlag: Springer

Buch, Englisch, 263 Seiten, Format (B × H): 178 mm x 254 mm

Reihe: Sustainable Development Goals Series

In democratic societies, the protection of journalistic sources stands as one of the most fundamental safeguards of press freedom. Without the ability to guarantee confidentiality, journalists cannot effectively investigate abuses of power, expose corruption, or provide the public with information essential for democratic accountability. Yet in an era increasingly defined by democratic backsliding, authoritarian resurgence, digital surveillance, and growing pressures on independent media, the protection of sources has become more fragile and more urgent than ever before.

This volume offers a timely and comprehensive examination of one of the most pressing challenges facing journalism, law, and democracy in the twenty-first century. Bringing together an international group of scholars from Europe, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, and Asia, it explores the legal, political, technological, and ethical dimensions of source protection across diverse constitutional systems and media environments.

The contributors examine international human rights frameworks, European Union regulation, whistleblower protection regimes, comparative constitutional practice, and landmark national case studies, while also addressing emerging threats posed by mass surveillance, digital platforms, cyber insecurity, and authoritarian governance. The volume further expands the discussion through philosophical reflections on anonymity, practical perspectives from investigative journalists, and new approaches to protecting vulnerable and marginalized voices in conflict reporting.

Combining interdisciplinary scholarship with global comparative analysis, this book demonstrates that protecting journalistic sources is not simply a professional privilege of the press, but a structural condition for democracy itself.

This volume is essential reading for scholars, policymakers, journalists, and anyone concerned with the future of free expression in the digital age.

Zielgruppe

Research

Autoren/Hrsg.

Gosztonyi, Gergely

Obi, Paul A.

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Medien- und Kommunikationswissenschaften Medienwissenschaften Journalismus & Presse
• Rechtswissenschaften Internationales Recht und Europarecht Internationales Recht
• Sozialwissenschaften Medien- und Kommunikationswissenschaften Medienwissenschaften Medienphilosophie, Medienethik, Medienrecht
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Kultur Menschenrechte, Bürgerrechte
• Rechtswissenschaften Wirtschaftsrecht Medienrecht Telekommunikationsrecht, IT-Recht, Internetrecht
• Rechtswissenschaften Recht, Rechtswissenschaft Allgemein Rechtsvergleichung

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1.Protecting Journalistic Sources: A Multidisciplinary Perspective.Introduction.- Part I Journalistic Source Protection through Democratic Lens.- 2. Journalistic Source Protection as a Guardrail for Democracy? Context, Praxis and Limits in Newer Democracies of Africa.- 3. Global Legal Instruments in Support for Journalistic Source Protection and the Challenges of Enforcement: International Human Rights Inquiry.- 4. Erosion of Journalistic Investigation and Protection of Information Sources in the Digital Age.- 5. Anonymous Journalistic Sources Separates Subject and Truth to Fight Post-Truth – A Philosophical Account.- Part II Media Law, Legal Rights and Particulars of Law.- 6. Journalistic source protection under GDPR ’journalistic exemption’ rules.- 7. EU Law, Source Protection: A Human Rights Perspective on the EU Whistleblowing Directive.- 8. European Whistleblowing Directive and the Protection of Journalistic Sources: Challenges of Effective Implementation.- Part III Litigations and Cases Around the World.- 9.Protection of Journalistic Sources and Freedom of the Press in Poland. The compatibility of the Polish Criminal Code with the ECHR and the ECtHR Case Law.- 10. Protection of Journalistic Sources in Bulgaria – The Landmark Decision in Rossen Bossev’s Case and the Revelation of Information About Bank Bankruptcy.- 11. Source Protection Amid High-Stakes Corruption Coverage in Latin America: A Stress Test for Inter American Standards on Press Freedom.- 12. Journalistic Source Protection in Iran: Navigating Legal and Political Barriers.- 13. The Protection of Journalistic Sources in National Law: The Case of Cameroon Ngangum.- 14. Regime Type and Journalistic Source Protection in Nigeria: From Colonial, Dictatorial to Post-Authoritarian State.- Part IV Whistleblowing, Censorship and Surveillance.- 15. From Law to Practice: Navigating Source Protection in Journalism.- 16. Source Protection in the Digital Age: How Digital Technology, Surveillance Undercut Source Protection.- 17. Safeguarding Sources: Whistleblower Protection in the Digital Age.- 18. Protecting Indigenous Voices: The Role of Peace Journalism in Digital Media Reporting on the Sunda Wiwitan Conflict in Indonesia.

Über Autor(innen)

Gergely Gosztonyi is a Full Professor, a Hungarian lawyer and media researcher. He is the Head of Digital Authoritarianism Research Lab (DARL) at the Faculty of Law of Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE). He is also a Senior Research Fellow at Széchenyi István University, Faculty of Law. His research interests include global regulation of social media, censorship, deepfake, alternative media and the liability of intermediaries. Since 2015, he has been the lead coach of the Hungarian team for the Monroe E. Price Media Law Moot Court Competition. He has been an expert on various occasions for the Council of Europe, the National Media and Infocommunications Authority, and the National Talent Centre. He is editor of several law journals and has published over 180 articles in Hungarian and international law journals. His latest books at Springer: Censorship from Plato to Social Media. The Complexity of Social Media’s Content Regulation and Moderation Practices (2023), Legal and Ethical Issues of Chilling Effect (2026).

Paul A. Obi is a lecturer, scholar and researcher at the Department of Mass Communication, Baze University, Abuja, Nigeria. His research focus is multidisciplinary and intersect political communication; politics, elections, democracy; media economics, digital culture, digital capitalism in Africa, Afrocentric communication research, political participation; freedom of the press, journalistic source protection and media law; media influence of Africa’s democratization; autocracy and mediated authoritarianism; propaganda studies; and dis/misinformation in Africa. Obi is the Co-Editor & Author of Media and Nigeria’s Constitutional Democracy: Civic Space, Free Speech and the Battle for Freedom of the Press (2023); Media, Conflicts and the National Security Question: Communicating (In)security in Nigeria, West Africa and the Sahel (2025). He has more than thirty (30) publications in edited volumes/international peer-reviewed journals. Between 2009 and 2018, Obi was a graduate of University of Abuja, where he earned BA English (Literature), was a journalist with THISDAY Newspaper, one of Nigeria’s most authoritative newspaper of repute. He also holds an MA in Political Communication, from the School of Journalism, Media and Culture (JOMEC), Cardiff University, United Kingdom, and he is also a Research Fellow at The Abuja School of Social and Political Thought, Nigeria.