AEJ calls for an investigation into the exposure of personal data of at-risk children

The Association of European Journalists – Bulgaria calls for an investigation into the exposure of personal data of at-risk children in sensationalist media outlets.

Websites such as “Epicenter” and “PIK” published an expert report on the so-called “Petrohan-Okolchitsa case” without anonymizing the personal data of the affected parties, including at-risk minors. Extremely sensitive information essential to the investigation was disclosed about these children, leading to the secondary victimization of victims of potential crimes. The combination of personal data and disclosed sensitive information poses a serious risk to the lives and health of these children.

Ethical standards in journalism require a careful assessment of the balance between the public interest and the protection of other citizens' rights—including the best interests of the children involved—when deciding how much of the acquired information to publish. By publishing the expert report in its entirety, the websites “Epicenter” and “PIK” have violated these ethical standards.

Furthermore, they have violated the Child Protection Act and the Personal Data Protection Act. The Association of European Journalists – Bulgaria will notify the competent authorities (the State Agency for Child Protection, the Commission for Personal Data Protection, and the Cybercrime Department of the General Directorate for Combating Organized Crime) so that they can take administrative measures regarding this violation within their respective mandates.

Last but not least, we call upon the Prosecutor's Office to explain the selective leaking of documents from pre-trial proceedings to sensationalist websites. This tactic dates back to the tenures of Geshev and Sarafov and is typically used in cases of high public interest that are subject to political exploitation.