ILO Warns Attacks on Journalists Threaten Democracy as Global Press Freedom Crisis Deepens

According to the ILO, more than 1,850 journalists have been killed since 1993, while hundreds more remain imprisoned, missing, threatened, or subjected to intimidation.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) has issued a stark warning over the escalating dangers facing journalists worldwide, arguing that attacks on media workers are not only assaults on press freedom but also serious violations of labour rights that threaten democracy, accountability, and human rights globally.

Marking World Press Freedom Day on 3 May, the ILO released a major new report examining how labour protections can play a critical role in improving the safety and security of journalists and media professionals operating in increasingly hostile environments.

The report comes amid rising global concern over violence, intimidation, arbitrary detention, online abuse, and legal harassment targeting journalists across both authoritarian and democratic societies.

According to the ILO, more than 1,850 journalists have been killed since 1993, while hundreds more remain imprisoned, missing, threatened, or subjected to intimidation. Most killings of journalists continue to go unresolved, reinforcing what international organizations describe as a growing culture of impunity surrounding attacks on the media.

The organization warns that the work of journalism is becoming increasingly dangerous at a time when independent reporting is more vital than ever for protecting democratic institutions, exposing corruption, documenting conflict, and defending human rights.

"Journalists are key defenders of human and labour rights," said Frank Hagemann, Director of Sectoral Policies at the ILO.

"They are also workers, and labour rights offer an important tool for protecting journalists at work."

The report argues that journalist safety must be understood not solely as an issue of freedom of expression, but also as a labour rights issue involving workplace safety, employment protections, social dialogue, occupational health, and legal safeguards.

The ILO says many journalists today face precarious working conditions that leave them particularly vulnerable to abuse, retaliation, and exploitation.

Freelancers, contract workers, local correspondents, and journalists working in conflict zones or politically sensitive environments often lack access to institutional support, legal protection, healthcare coverage, insurance, or secure employment arrangements.

At the same time, the digital transformation of media has intensified risks, especially through online harassment campaigns, cyberbullying, surveillance, and coordinated disinformation attacks.

Women journalists are increasingly becoming specific targets of gender-based threats and online abuse, including sexual harassment, intimidation, and coordinated digital attacks designed to silence critical reporting.

Media rights organizations have repeatedly warned that online violence against women journalists is becoming one of the most serious emerging threats to press freedom worldwide.

The ILO report highlights how international labour standards — including principles related to freedom of association, collective bargaining, occupational safety, and non-discrimination — can help strengthen protections for journalists and media workers.

The organization says governments, employers, media institutions, unions, and civil society groups all have a role to play in developing safer and more sustainable working conditions within the journalism sector.

The report also emphasizes the importance of ensuring journalists can work free from political interference, retaliation, censorship, or economic coercion.

Globally, press freedom advocates say the media industry is facing unprecedented pressures from authoritarian crackdowns, political polarization, declining trust in journalism, economic instability, and rapid technological disruption driven by artificial intelligence and digital platforms.

In many countries, shrinking newsroom budgets and the collapse of traditional business models have weakened institutional protections for journalists, increasing reliance on insecure freelance work and reducing the capacity for investigative reporting.

The ILO warns that deteriorating labour conditions in journalism are directly connected to broader threats against democratic accountability and public access to reliable information.

The report forms part of the ILO's contribution to the United Nations Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity, an international initiative adopted by the UN System Chief Executives Board for Coordination in 2012.

The UN action plan aims to strengthen international coordination around journalist protection, combat impunity for attacks on media workers, and reinforce freedom of expression globally.

Press freedom organizations say the issue has become increasingly urgent as journalists continue to face violence in conflict zones, authoritarian states, and even democratic societies where political hostility toward the media has intensified.

International observers have also raised concerns over growing use of legal harassment tactics, including strategic lawsuits, arbitrary detention laws, anti-terror legislation, and digital surveillance measures that can be used to intimidate journalists and restrict independent reporting.

The ILO's intervention adds a labour and employment perspective to the broader global debate over press freedom, arguing that protecting journalists requires not only legal guarantees for free speech but also stronger workplace protections, fair employment conditions, and institutional support systems.

As threats against media workers continue to rise globally, the organization says safeguarding journalists is essential not only for protecting individual workers, but for defending democratic societies themselves.