The UN has voiced concern over growing attacks on journalists, warning that such attacks must stop.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk made the statement in a message ahead of World Press Freedom Day, observed annually on May 3.
Worldwide, roughly 330 media workers are currently detained, along with some 500 citizen journalists and human rights bloggers, according to UN reports.
Laws on defamation, disinformation, cybercrime, and terrorism are increasingly being used to shield the powerful, while costly legal cases are deployed to intimidate and silence journalists.
Türk said practically no country offers a safe environment for journalists.
“When attacks on the media are normalised, freedom itself begins to decay — and with it, the foundations of peace, security, and sustainable development,” he warned.
The High Commissioner paid tribute to courageous reporters and photographers worldwide “who document horrific atrocities, expose corruption, and scrutinize business operations.”
He noted, however, that “journalism today has become an insecure and, at times, dangerous profession.”
He regretted that media workers have been “bombed in their cars, abducted from their offices, silenced behind bars, and dismissed from their jobs.”
At least 14 journalists have been killed since January, and only around a tenth of killings in the past two decades have led to full accountability.
According to him, covering armed conflict poses the highest risk. He added that Israel’s war in Gaza has become a death trap for the media.
“My Office has verified the killing of nearly 300 journalists since October 2023, with many more injured,” he said.
Türk said local reporters covering wars, such as the journalists he met in Sudan, “have faced extreme violence, brutality, and even famine.”
He noted that journalists face hostile environments while trying to continue their essential work.
Türk warned that “virtually no country is truly safe for those who speak truth to power.”
The High Commissioner pointed to his recent visit to Mexico, where reporting on corruption, environmental harm, or organised crime has exposed journalists, their sources, and even their families to grave risks.
“I am deeply concerned that media workers are the primary targets of growing transnational repression and surveillance — most recently seen in attacks against Iranian journalists abroad,” he said.
The UN rights chief voiced concern over online harassment and bullying, which disproportionately affects women journalists. Three-quarters of them have suffered abuse, including smear campaigns and threats of sexual violence.
Such attacks “risk creating a disinformation society, in which the media is forced to obscure facts and deny science to operate in safety.”
He also appealed to tech companies to take meaningful action against online abuse and disinformation, and underlined the importance of maintaining independence, transparency, and integrity within media institutions.
In his message for the Day, UN Secretary-General António Guterres affirmed that “recent years have seen a sharp rise in the number of journalists killed, often deliberately targeted, in war zones.”
The UN chief recalled the popular saying that truth is the first casualty in war.
“Far too frequently, the first casualties are the journalists who risk everything to report that truth — not only in war, but wherever those in power fear scrutiny.”
Guterres regretted that press freedom is also under “unprecedented strain” due to “economic pressures, new technologies, and active manipulation.”
The UN chief urged governments to prevent attacks against media workers, protect them from surveillance (including when working abroad), investigate violations, and ensure accountability.
