The Global Fight for Media Freedom

In a year in which nearly half of humanity will go to the polls, the need for quality information has never been greater. Yet the latest report on press freedom shows journalists working in increasingly hostile and dangerous conditions in many parts of the world from Hong Kong to the Middle East.

The European Union and other international bodies have recently unveiled legislation and initiatives to defend media freedom, but will they work when the threats are often coming from beyond their borders? In this article, we explore the threats to a free press and potential solutions.

The state of press freedom in 2024

Political pressure, censorship, and violence against journalists pose significant threats to freedom of speech and freedom of information, sometimes in surprising locations.

The latest Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index ranks countries from best to worst, with Norway, Denmark, and Sweden at the top and Afghanistan, Syria, and Eritrea at the bottom. Critically, the report found that, of the five indicators used to compile the ranking, the political indicator has fallen the most.

Anne Bocandé, RSF editorial director, said as part of the report, “States and other political forces are playing a decreasing role in protecting press freedom. This disempowerment sometimes goes hand in hand with more hostile actions that undermine the role of journalists, or even instrumentalise the media through campaigns of harassment or disinformation.”

The range of threats to journalism varies widely but is worrying in all forms. As Human Rights First reports, Pew Research found that 57% of U.S. journalists surveyed said they are “extremely or very concerned about potential restrictions on press freedoms in the country.” Meanwhile, across the globe, “more than 95 journalists and media workers have been killed over four months of the Israel-Gaza war — the deadliest time for journalists since the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) began gathering this data in 1992.”

The Middle East-North Africa (MENA) region is among the most volatile for journalists. The very real danger presented by war aside, governments in the region are among the worst, according to Reporters Without Borders: “Four of the world’s ten biggest jailers of journalists are in the Middle East. They are Israel, Saudi Arabia (166th), Syria and Iran (176th), which – with its mass imprisonment policy – holds on to its extremely low ranking.”

In what is being billed as one of the biggest election years in history, concerns about violence against journalists are especially pervasive. Reporters Without Borders points out, “Elections are often accompanied by violence against journalists, as in Nigeria (112th) and the Democratic Republic of Congo (123rd). The military juntas that seized power in coups in the Sahel, especially Niger (down 19 to 80th), Burkina Faso (down 28 to 86th) and Mali (down one to 114th), continue to tighten their grip on the media and obstruct journalists’ work.”

The threats to the freedom of the press are clear and varied, but the solutions are less obvious.

Legislative and other measures to protect journalists

Efforts to buoy press freedom range from symbolic gestures like the United Nations World Press Freedom Day, which “acts as a reminder to governments of the need to respect their commitment to press freedom,” to concrete legislative efforts. For example, international bodies, including the European Union, have introduced legislation like the EU Media Freedom Act to safeguard media freedom.

On August 8, 2025, the new laws will go into effect, putting in place a powerful set of tools: “The European Media Freedom Act puts in place a new set of rules to protect media pluralism and independence in the EU. They will ensure that media – public and private – can operate more easily across borders in the EU internal market, without undue pressure and taking into account the digital transformation of the media space.”

Weaponizing the law against news media

A growing concern for media freedom, even in relatively liberal countries like the UK, is the use of lawsuits and strict defamation legislation to shut down reporting targeting powerful interests or groups. High legal costs make make it difficult or impossible for journalists and publishers to defend themselves against well-funded legal action.

The EU has drafted legislation aimed at protecting journalists from such practices and, in April of this year, issued a directive aimed at "... protecting persons who engage in public participation from manifestly unfounded claims or abusive court proceedings."

Forbidden stories

Of course, the EU is already home to some of the freest presses in the world. So, what’s to be done in countries where governments are less supportive?

Human Rights First suggests that “civil society” and even journalists themselves can play a role in calling attention to the dangers the press faces: “Civil societies can play a crucial role in supporting press freedom by raising awareness, pressuring governments, and monitoring and reporting cases of journalist killings.” They point to Forbidden Stories, a ”nonprofit news organization dedicated to investigative journalism on the murders and incarceration of journalists worldwide.” In 2017, award-winning journalist Laurent Richard founded the organization in response to the 2015 Charlie Hebdo attack. Forbidden Stories picks up the baton and tells the stories that murdered journalists were working on, operating under the motto, “Killing the journalist won’t kill the story.”

Evaluating the effectiveness of media freedom initiatives

With numerous initiatives and laws in place to defend media freedom, it is essential to assess their effectiveness—and the gaps are immediately clear. Further protecting journalists in countries that already enjoy a great deal of press freedom is great—and may even protect journalists if the tables ever turn—but do not do much to help journalists in places where their lives are regularly threatened.

Enter the international organizations. Human Rights First points out that the likes of the United Nations, UNESCO, and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) have a role to play: “With certain states unwilling to adopt measures to protect journalists and sometimes prosecuting journalists themselves, international organizations should hold entities accountable by monitoring compliance with international human rights standards, assist countries lacking infrastructure, impose diplomatic and economic targeted sanctions, and raise awareness globally to mobilize support for press freedom and accountability.”

When the bad actors are governments themselves, enforcing accountability is very difficult. It will take a global coalition committed to protecting the press to move the needle forward and the current trends in the World Press Freedom Index suggest that there is a long way to go.