Journalists under attack: protecting journalists against legal threats and fighting back through the courts

Journalists around the world are under attack like never before. Repressive criminal and civil laws, threats, harassment and violence are used against journalists to stifle critical reporting. The number of countries regarded as safe, where journalists can work in security, continues to decline as freedom of expression is under threat in democracies as well as authoritarian regimes. According to the Reporters without Borders, the threat to journalists is growing rapidly: in 2019, 389 journalists and media workers were detained and 57 journalists were abducted. Most journalists face the threats alone, without the protection of resourced media houses or effective legal representation. They often cannot afford to pay for a lawyer to defend them. In this panel, we’ll hear from journalists who each have their own experiences of pressure, harassment, intimidation or attacks associated with their work, and have found ways to fight back.