ASIATODAY.ID, JAKARTA – Attacks on journalists and journalism are proliferating across the world.
UNESCO’s most recent report on global trends in freedom of expression, reveals a 10% decline in freedom of expression worldwide since 2012, a setback comparable only to three other periods – World War I, the prelude to World War II, and the late 1970s Cold War period.
UNESCO- analysis of V-DEM data shows that global self-censorship among the press grew by 69%, between 2012 and the end of 2025; the most damaging form of censorship is now internalized.
Journalists and media professionals have increasingly been targeted through diverse forms of legal harassment, from multi-million-dollar lawsuits for defamation, to anti-terrorism regulations and financial legislation.
Online harassment against journalists – particularly that targeting women – has surged worldwide. Research carried out by the International Center for Journalists’ (ICFJ) for UN Women, in partnership with UNESCO found that 75% of women journalists reported having experienced online violence. Even more worrying, at least 42% of women journalists said in 2025 that these online attacks had led to offline abuse, threats or violence – double the number (20%) who reported this in 2020.
Despite these trends, some progress continues, which offer signs of hope, and evidence of innovative new solutions to global challenges. Of the 194 countries reviewed in UNESCO’s 2025 global survey, nearly half now have legal frameworks in place and, in many cases, provide financial support, reflecting a strengthened commitment to media pluralism.
Progress has also been made on access to information: 139 UN Member States have now adopted legal guarantees for the public’s right of access to information. Digital tools and artificial intelligence are fostering the rise of cross border investigative journalism and international collaboration.
Protecting journalists and safeguarding information integrity are drivers for peace and security
At World Press Freedom Conference in Lusaka, UNESCO will appeal to governments and civil society to recommit to support independent journalism and the free flow of information, affirming that any peace, recovery or security policy must integrate information integrity and free, independent media alongside humanitarian, institutional and economic dimensions. When independent journalism declines, corruption rises, poor governance takes hold, and information violence precedes physical violence.
UNESCO also call for sustainable financing to ensure media can continue to operate. The Organization’s analysis shows that, just 15 days of annual global military spending would equal a full year of the investment needed to support public-interest journalism worldwide.
“Newsrooms around the world are struggling to cover their costs and face an existential threat. Yet with social media and artificial intelligence spreading disinformation at unprecedented speed and scale, it has become the last line of defence for citizens against manipulation and division. Free, accurate information is a public good. I call on Member States and all our partners to invest in journalism as a lever of peace,” said Khaled El-Enany quoted on May 4, 2026.
This year’s UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize was awarded to the Sudanese Journalists Syndicate, recognizing journalists working under extreme conditions and highlighting the risks faced by media professionals in conflict settings. (Midwan)
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