The collective « To inform is not a crime » brings together print, radio, TV and Internet journalists. Our aim is to fight all attempts to hinder access to free and fair information.
The collective was formed in January 2015 in the wake of a draft bill from the French government which was pushing for growth. Part of this draft bill was jeopardizing our capacity to investigate by creating “trade secrets”. We mobilized and spread out our message with success. Consequently, the French Minister of Economy Emmanuel Macron quickly withdrew part of this draft bill on the 30th of January 2015.
Our fight then went into European territory. In Brussels, the Commission, the Council and the Parliament enacted a directive called “Trade Secrets” which aims at protecting businesses from industrial espionage. With this directive now in force, we continue to denounce the risks of such “trade secrets” to freedom of information.