Source · Select Committees · Foreign Affairs Committee
Recommendation 30
30
Accepted in Part
The Committee welcomes the announcement that the UK Government will become the new co-Chair of...
Conclusion
The Committee welcomes the announcement that the UK Government will become the new co-Chair of the Media Freedom Coalition in March 2026, following this Committee’s suggestion to Ministers. This indicates that the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office are serious about protecting media freedoms. However, under previous Governments, the 88 Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office committed to providing six-monthly updates to this Committee on its work on media freedoms. These have now stopped. (Conclusion, Paragraph 148)
Government response summary AI-generated
The government partially agrees, recognising the importance of updates on media freedoms and committing to periodic verbal briefing sessions for the Committee while reviewing options for formal written reporting, in response to the cessation of previous updates.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Government Response
Accepted in Part
HM Government · verbatim extract
Accepted in Part
Partially agree. The FCDO has a longstanding commitment to protecting media freedoms globally. Media Freedom, in the form of a strong, robust, independent, local media, with a variety of voices, remains a priority for this Government. We recognise the importance of keeping the Committee updated regarding this Governments work on media freedoms. While we review options for written reporting, we will provide periodic verbal briefing sessions for Committee members.
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