In the past five years a growing trend has emerged of autocratic governments around the world using sophisticated spyware tools purchased from private Western companies to snoop on journalists. Originally designed for criminal or intelligence operations, these privately developed technologies are increasingly being used by state agencies to spy on critical and investigative reporters and […]

The International Press Institute (IPI) has launched two new video series providing support to journalists targeted by online harassment and attacks. The first series, produced in cooperation with the Dart Centre Europe, describes measures that both newsrooms and journalists can take to prevent or minimize the emotional stress and trauma that online harassment can create. […]

The growing phenomenon of online attacks against journalists – which include threats, insults and smear campaigns as a means of silencing them and challenging their credibility in the public arena – has escalated the perceived tension between the protection of media freedom as a precondition for independent journalism and calls for strong tools to limit […]

Despite a notable drop in the number of journalist killings, the global press freedom crisis deepened in 2019 as governments increasingly turned to legal harassment, smear campaigns and online attacks to pressure independent media and journalists into silence. The International Press Institute (IPI)’s global coverage of media freedom this year showed a rise in the […]