Focus Freedom of speech Method Advocacy Founded 1992 | Area served Worldwide Website IFEX.org Type of business Non-profit NGO | |
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Location Toronto, Ontario, Canada Members over 100 independent organizations worldwide Similar Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters Without Borders, Article 19, Freedom House, Human Rights Watch Profiles | ||
IFEX, formerly the International Freedom of Expression Exchange, is a global network of over 100 independent non-governmental organisations working at the local, national, regional and international level to defend and promote freedom of expression as a fundamental human right.
Contents
History
IFEX was founded in 1992 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, by a group of organisations responding to free expression violations around the world.
Operations
The day-to-day operations of the organisation are run by the IFEX Secretariat based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
IFEX's mandate is to raise awareness by sharing information online and mobilising action on issues such as press freedom, Internet censorship, freedom of information legislation, criminal defamation and insult laws, media concentration and attacks on the free expression rights of all people, including journalists, writers, artists, musicians, filmmakers, academics, scientists, human rights defenders and Internet users.
Campaigns and advocacy
IFEX works with its members by creating and participating in advocacy coalitions and working groups and releasing joint statements and petitions.
In 2011, IFEX launched the International Day to End Impunity campaign. In 2013, the United Nations designated 2 November as the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists. The Tunisia Monitoring Group (IFEX-TMG), launched in 2004 by 21 IFEX members to raise awareness of censorship and other human rights violations in Tunisia is IFEX's largest campaign to date. IFEX-TMG was dissolved in January 2013 in response to improved conditions for local NGOs, media independence and free expression rights.
Online information
IFEX brings attention to free expression stories and events through its website, e-newsletters and special reports. The content is available in multiple languages (English, French, Spanish and Arabic), and addresses pressing free expression stories. The website hosts a searchable online archive of free expression violations going back to 1995.