Via Zoom. 

Please note that the first half of the roundtable session will be a panel discussion which will be recorded for a special World Press Freedom Day episode of PMA’s podcast ‘Media: Uncovered’. A summary of the main discussion points from the first half will be made available shortly after the roundtable forum. The second half will NOT be recorded; it will be a dedicated, safe, and open space for PMA members to ask panellists and each other questions or raise comments and thoughts related to online abuse, safety and security.

Zoom link upon registration.

While the growth in digital technology has brought many benefits for journalists, news organisations and their audiences, it has also opened new spaces that have become a breeding ground for hate speech and disinformation. Moreover, it has also exposed new avenues for attacks and harassment on journalists for simply doing their jobs.

With the greater proximity of users in the online space, journalists worldwide have become highly vulnerable to online abuse and threats to their digital safety; many receive death threats. This is particularly the case for female journalists, journalists of colour, and LGBTQ+ journalists.

The gravity of this issue is also being recognised as the theme for this year’s World Press Freedom Day 2022 on 3 May (“Journalism under Digital Siege”).

Many public interest media organisations are developing – or have developed – strategies or best practice guidelines to protect journalists from online abuse and harassment. Some newsrooms have taken the approach to ban comments on their social media newsfeeds. The Brussels Declaration was an international statement published last year with more than 45 signatories from public media and media advocacy organisations calling for journalist safety against both physical and digital abuse. We will use this roundtable to explore such solutions and more.