Attacks on free press (International)
Attacks on the free press internationally highlight a growing concern about the safety and freedom of journalists around the world. In many democratic societies, the press is seen as a fundamental human right that facilitates the exchange of ideas and holds governments accountable. However, this right faces significant challenges, particularly from authoritarian regimes where censorship, imprisonment, violence, and even murder of journalists are prevalent. The United Nations noted alarming statistics, such as eighty-six journalists killed in 2022 alone, with many of these deaths occurring in non-conflict countries. The historical context shows that the struggle for press freedom dates back to the invention of the printing press, with early newspapers frequently targeted for government censorship.
In recent years, the situation has continued to deteriorate, especially for journalists covering sensitive topics like environmental issues or conflicts. Many journalists face targeted violence during wartime, while others encounter repression in their home countries, often resulting in imprisonment or forced exile. Advocacy groups like Reporters without Borders report a high number of journalists detained globally, with a significant increase in attacks reported. Regions like Eastern Europe and Central Asia show a rise in repressive measures against journalists similar to those seen in Russia. Overall, the landscape for press freedom remains fraught with danger, necessitating ongoing vigilance and advocacy for the protection of journalists and their essential role in society.
Attacks on free press (International)
In democratic societies, a free press is considered a fundamental human right that allows for the free exchange of ideas and information throughout society. In essence, a free press enables media outlets, such as book publishers, newspapers, and television and online media, to disseminate information without government censorship or control. In many nations throughout the world, the right of the media to report the news accurately comes into conflict with the interests of national and local governments. In free societies, this conflict allows the media to serve as a watchdog, helping to keep the power of governments and businesses in check.
However, media organizations in the twenty-first century have noticed that attacks on free press have increased to alarming proportions as governments seek to suppress information and intimidate journalists. These attacks include censorship, imprisonment, violence, and murder. According to the United Nations (UN), the year 2022 was the deadliest on record for journalists, with eighty-six of them killed. Notably, the UN reported that the highest portion of this increase came from journalists killed in non-conflict countries.
Brief History
The concept of widely disseminated media did not exist before the invention of the movable-type printing press by German inventor Johannes Gutenberg in about 1450. The invention led to a revolution in printing, and by the early seventeenth century, newspapers were being published in most of the major cities in Europe. From the start, early newspapers were the targets of governmental attempts to censor and control. In fact, the first newspapers in Germany did not reveal the cities they were printed in to avoid government prosecution. Most of the time, the information printed in the papers was regulated by the government.
In 1695, Great Britain became the first nation to give some freedom to the press by no longer forcing newspapers to obtain a government-issued license. In 1766, Sweden became the first nation to officially inscribe freedom of the press in its constitution. The Freedom of the Press Act was the first law to end government censorship, allow for free publication of official government business, and stop punishments for the free expression of ideas.
In democratic societies, citizens and the government may disagree about the meaning of press freedom but were generally open to the expression of ideas. However, in authoritarian nations like the Soviet Union of the twentieth century, freedom of the press was non-existent as the government tightly controlled the media and punished dissenting opinions. In 1948, the UN issued its Universal Declaration of Human Rights, announcing that all people have the right to freedom of expression and to “impart information and ideas through any media.”
Overview
Despite the efforts of democratic governments throughout the world to promote freedom of the press, in many nations, journalists and other members of the media still face significant threats and violence while doing their jobs. During times of war, journalists and news photographers put themselves in danger to capture a story or an image, leading to instances where they have been killed or wounded in the line of fire. For example, the New York Times reported in May 2023 that fourteen civilian journalists and media members had been killed from the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. After war broke out in Gaza in the fall of 2023, by June 2024 the Committee to Protect Journalists had estimated that at least 108 journalists had been killed.
In some cases, journalists have been specifically targeted during wartime. Western journalists in particular have been singled out during conflicts in the Middle East, such as the Syrian Civil War and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2012, American journalist Marie Colvin, who was working for Britain’s Sunday Times, was killed while covering the Syrian Civil War. Colvin had been a vocal critic of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad. Her family and colleagues believe that she was specifically targeted by Assad’s government.
According to the UN, most journalists who have been killed were targeted outside of war zones as a political retribution. For example, in 2006, Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya was shot and killed in the lobby of her Moscow apartment building. Politkovskaya had been an outspoken critic of Russia’s government and its actions in the Republic of Chechnya. In 2018, Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was ambushed and murdered in the Saudi Arabian embassy in Turkey. His death was reportedly ordered by Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, a frequent target of his reporting.
According to the UN, eighty-six journalists were killed in 2022, making it the deadliest year on record for the profession. The UN reported that more than four hundred had been killed from 2006 to 2020. During this time, many more journalists were the victims of imprisonment, violence, or censorship. In addition, legitimate journalists have also had their work fall victim to digitally altered attacks that produce misinformation and propaganda. Journalists in some countries are pressured into reporting the government’s version of truth or face punishment. In Russia, journalists reporting on the conflict with Ukraine or covering any protest of the invasion could be sentenced to prison. As the conflict began, many Russian journalists fled the country to report on the war from outside its borders.
In 2024, a UN report highlighted the increased risk of death and attack faced by environmental journalists amid ongoing climate change debates. According to the UN, 70 percent of the nine hundred global journalists they surveyed that year reported experiencing attacks, threats, or pressure related to their reporting. In addition to online harassment and censorship, these journalists experienced a rise in physical attacks. Between 2009 and 2023, forty-four environmental journalists had been killed and more than seven hundred had been targeted with detention and arrest, murder, physical violence, legal attacks, or online harassment.
The advocacy group Reporters without Borders (RSF) also continued to emphasize the use of arbitrary detention as a tool for journalistic suppression, reporting that a record number of journalists, 569, were detained worldwide as of December 2022, and a close 547 were detained by the end of 2023.
RSF additionally began issuing an annual report in 2002 about the level of freedom that journalists around the world experience. According to its 2023 World Press Freedom Index, freedom of the press in 128 out of 180 nations ranged from bad to problematic, with 52 nations listed as good or satisfactory.
The worst country on the list was North Korea, a totalitarian nation in which the government exercises absolute authority over its media. Journalists who have fled the nation have been sentenced to death in absentia for reporting anything negative about the county. In China, the government controls all media, and the free access of information is strictly forbidden. According to RSF, one hundred journalists were imprisoned in the nation in June 2023. Other nations on the bottom of the Press Freedom Index included Vietnam, Iran, Turkmenistan, Syria, Eritrea, Myanmar, Cuba, and Bahrain.
Norway, Ireland, Denmark, Sweden, and Finland ranked at the top of the list for press freedom. The United Kingdom (UK) was twenty-sixth and the United States was forty-fifth.
Meanwhile, the RSF freedom index report for 2024 highlighted intensified repressive methods, similar to those employed in Russia, used against journalists in Eastern European and Central Asian countries such as Belarus, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, and Azerbaijan. In May of that year, the UN high commissioner for human rights issued a statement of concern regarding the fact that a record-high number of journalists, at least thirty, were imprisoned in Russia at that time on charges that included alleged extremism, terrorism, dissemination of false information, and spying, often without the support of evidence.
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