UNITED Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk highlighted the growing threats to journalists and the media on World Freedom Day on May 3. “When attacks on the media are normalized, freedom itself begins to decay, and with it, the foundations of peace, security, and sustainable development,” he said.
He also paid tribute to the courageous reporters and photographers across the world “who document horrific atrocities, expose corruption, and scrutinize business operations.” He added that “journalism today has become an insecure and, at times, dangerous profession,” as its practitioners have been “bombed in their cars, abducted from their offices, silenced behind bars, and dismissed from their jobs.”
Türk also said the war in Gaza had become a “death trap” for the media, with his office verifying that nearly 300 journalists have been killed since October 2023.
The toll on frontline journalists globally has been horrific. In 2025 alone, as many as 129 journalists were killed. That same year, about 533 others were imprisoned, most of them in China.
This year, 14 journalists were killed so far. The deadliest conflict zone is in Gaza; in 2025, alone, between 60 and 86 Palestinian journalists were slain, mostly in Israeli airstrikes. The second most dangerous is Mexico, where nine journalists were killed last year, with most for reporting on organized crime and political corruption.
The Philippines is one of the deadliest countries in Southeast Asia for journalists, with 147 killed since 1986. The only year no journalist was killed was 2024.
When journalists are harassed and threatened by the government and forced to flee their country, they do not always find a safe haven. Agents from Russia, China and Iran, among others, track and harass journalists in exile. These agents have almost complete impunity in doing so, and this encourages them to continue. There is no way to stop them.
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is the world’s largest organization of media professionals. IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said: “Every attack on a media professional is an attack aimed at silencing a story intended to inform citizens. The deplorable state of press freedom across the world must mobilize each and every one of us. Through journalists, it is our readers, our listeners, who are being targeted — prevented from making informed decisions.”
He added: “Our journalistic right to inform is also the public’s right to be informed. It is equally up to citizens to mobilize to protect this right by holding their governments to account. We need laws that protect the right to information, guarantee the independence and pluralism of the media, ban the use of spyware and all forms of surveillance, regulate the use of artificial intelligence and combat the systemic impunity of those who violate press freedom. It is time to act. Together.”
All of us must stand to defend the right to freedom of expression./PN
