Belgian Post Group (Bpost), the country’s leading postal service with the Belgian Government as majority shareholder, is refusing to work with Doorbraak, a right-of-centre news magazine, reports the Brussels Signal.
Less than a month before the Belgian and European Parliament elections on June 9, Doorbraak produced a special election edition offering analysis and interviews with politicians and public thinkers.
After initially agreeing to co-operate, Bpost has since deemed the content too political and even claimed Doorbraak was not a “real” news medium.
Pieter Bauwens, editor-in-chief of Doorbraak, told Brussels Signal he had not encountered such an issue with Bpost before.
“This is the first time we’ve been portrayed as a political action group rather than a media company,” he said.
Bauwens further claimed that Facebook also seemed to be acting against Doorbraak.
“I expect this is because of our content, but it is hard to be sure, as it is difficult to contact them,” he said.
Michael Freilich, MP for the centre-right N-VA party, told Brussels Signal: “The decision of Bpost to refuse Doorbraak access to address databases is very concerning.
“This is a revealing illustration of how deeply the political tentacles, especially those of the [Socialist Party] PS, have entrenched themselves in the structures of this government-owned company.
“It also constitutes a blatant undermining of press freedom, where a legitimate news medium is excluded solely because its content may not align with the world-view of certain political forces,” he added.
“This incident is clear evidence that Bpost no longer functions as a neutral and independent postal company but rather as an extension of certain political interests,” he claimed.
