Global press freedom crackdown widened in 2019: IPI

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published: 24 December 2019

The International Press Institute reported a deepening crisis for press freedom in 2019. Although journalist killings decreased, legal harassment and smear campaigns increased significantly.

Summary

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 abuse of new and existing laws to threaten, harass and jail journalists, as well as the increasing use of populist rhetoric designed to undermine journalism and discredit independent journalists.

“2019 has seen a clear drop in the number of journalists killed to the lowest level in 20 years, even as impunity remains a major challenge”, IPI Executive Director Barbara Trionfi said.

“We certainly welcome this development. However, we fear it may be a direct consequence of increased authoritarian tendencies in many countries, where alternative means of silencing the press, such as twisting the law to harass and jail critical journalists while smearing independent media, have been adopted to shield political leaders from scrutiny and criticism.”— IPI

KEY POINTS:

• 2019 saw the lowest journalist killings in 20 years.
• Governments increasingly used legal means to silence critical journalists.
• Populist rhetoric targeted independent media to discredit journalism.
• Impunity remains a significant challenge for press freedom.
• Many countries adopted authoritarian tactics against media scrutiny.