(ANSA) - BELGRADE, APRIL 3 - "The global health problems caused by COVID-19 require effective measures to protect people's health and lives. This includes combating disinformation that may cause panic and social unrest.

Regrettably some governments are using this imperative as a pretext to introduce disproportionate restrictions to press freedom; this is a counterproductive approach that must stop. Particularly in times of crisis, we need to protect our precious liberties and rights," said Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatovic.

Mijatovic explicitly referred to journalists covering the Covid-19 pandemic in Hungary and the Russian Federation, which "are facing a variety of sanctions, including the risk, under new laws, of prison terms of up to five years for spreading 'false information'. Also in Romania, a decree allows the authorities to remove content and block websites where this content provides "false information" without the possibility to appeal against the decision. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, decrees and legislative proposals aimed at punishing the circulation of information that can cause panic run the risk of limiting the work of journalists and freedom of expression on social media platforms.

"I urge all Council of Europe member states to preserve press and media freedom and ensure that measures to combat disinformation are necessary, proportionate and subject to regular oversight, including by Parliament and national human rights institutions," Mijatovic said. (ANSA).