Marking Sunday International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against JournalistsThe United Nations is calling for justice for those silenced and protection for those who continue to speak truth to power – whether in conflict zones or in online spaces where abuse spreads quickly.
“Media workers around the world face increasing perils in their pursuit of the truth, including verbal abuse, legal threats, physical attacks, imprisonment and torture. Some are even killed,” the UN said. Secretary-General António Guterres in his message marking the day.
Cold cases
“Around the world, nearly nine out of ten journalist assassinations remain unsolved.” He noted that Gaza is ‘the deadliest place for journalists in all conflicts’calling for “independent and impartial investigations”.
Mr. Guterres warned that impunity “is not only an injustice to victims and their families: it is an attack on press freedom, an invitation to more violence and a threat to democracy itself.”
He called on all governments to “investigate every case, prosecute every perpetrator and ensure that journalists can freely carry out their work everywhere”.
Targeting women online
The United Nations agency for culture and education UNESCOwhich leads global efforts to defend press freedom, is spearheading this year’s campaign focused on the growing use of digital technology to target women journalists.
Under the theme GBV: raise awareness of gender-based violence facilitated by AI against women journalists, UNESCO warns that the rise of generative artificial intelligence has amplified the reach and impact of online abuse.
“When an AI-generated deepfake of a female journalist goes viral, it’s not just her image that is attacked: her credibility, her safety, and her voice are also attacked.“, indicated the agency.
Such attacks are part of what experts call Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violencea growing form of harassment aimed at silencing, humiliating and discrediting women in the media.
Threatened and attacked
of UNESCO The cold a study found that 73 percent of female journalists have been victims of online threats, and one in four have been victims of offline attacks..
More generally, 58 percent of young women and girls globally have experienced harassment on social media platforms, highlighting the scale of the problem.
“Digital spaces must be safe for those who come together and report the news,” the Secretary-General said. “When journalists are silenced, we all lose our voices.”
The message from the UN and working journalists is clear: justice for crimes committed against them simply for doing their job must be non-negotiable, and digital spaces must be reclaimed from those who use technology as a weapon to spread fear and hatred.
Learn more about UN efforts here and the UNESCO global campaign here
Originally published at Almouwatin.com
