Authoritarians threatening journalists around the globe
FROM Vladimir Putin in Russia to the theocrats in Iran, authoritarian leaders are increasingly shutting down independent media and locking up reporters, with hundreds of journalists now in jail around the globe.
The surge in government crackdowns on the Press, which accelerated after Russia invaded Ukraine two years ago, has left more than 520 journalists imprisoned worldwide, including a few dozen under house arrest, according to the Paris-based advocacy group Reporters Without Borders.
The figure is among the highest the group has ever recorded.
The crackdowns reverse the expansion of media freedom that began after the end of the Cold War, as many governments turn towards autocracy.
Even places that were once bastions of free Press, such as Hong Kong, are tightening restrictions on journalists.
And countries such as Russia that once tolerated some dissent are imposing near-totalitarian limits on independent journalism, leaving State media and government propaganda to fill the void.
Many other journalists have been forced into exile under threat of imprisonment or worse, while authorities have banned numerous independent news outlets, forcing them to close or operate from abroad.
New censorship laws restrict how journalists cover topics deemed off-limits, such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“It is difficult to work knowing that at any moment the newspaper can be closed and journalists arrested without hope of a trial,” said Oleg Roldugin, editor-in-chief of Sobesednik, one of Russia’s last remaining independent newspapers.
Russia is now one of the most dangerous places to practise journalism, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of data collected by Reporters Without Borders.
Nearly three dozen journalists are in Russian prisons, among the most in any country.
That puts Russia ahead of Saudi Arabia and Syria and behind only China, Myanmar, Belarus, Israel and Vietnam, according to the data.
Globally, around 600 journalists have spent time in prison or under house arrest so far this year.
The figures show that Israel arrested the most journalists in 2023, and is now holding 35, after it detained dozens of reporters in the Palestinian territories following the deadly Hamas attack on October 7, 2023.
Reporters Without Borders does not list the reasons for their arrest.
Israel does not say why these people were arrested.
Reporters Without Borders said Israeli forces killed 21 journalists covering the ground offensive in the Gaza Strip, making the Palestinian territory the world’s most deadly place for reporters this year and last.
The advocacy group said its investigations suggested that seven of the journalists were explicitly targeted by Israeli forces or killed while identifiable as journalists.
It has filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court over their deaths.
At least 83 other journalists were killed in the Gaza Strip during the war; the advocacy group is investigating whether their deaths were linked to their reporting.
Israel’s military, known as the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), said it “takes all operationally feasible measures to mitigate harm to civilians including journalists. The IDF has never, and will never, deliberately target journalists.”
Mexico is the second-deadliest country for journalists, with four killed last year and 11 in 2022.
Reporters in Mexico often face violent reprisals from drug cartels, gangs and even local officials. The Mexican government didn’t respond to a request for comment.