World Press Freedom Day – A noticeable increase in cyber violence against female journalists

The report – prepared by UN Women, TheNerve and their partners – was released shortly before World Press Freedom Day Which falls on the third of May.

12 percent of female human rights defenders, activists, journalists, media workers, and other public contacts reported that they had been exposed to sharing personal photos without their consent, which included intimate or sexual content.

Six percent of them said they had been victims of “deepfake” technologies, while almost one in three women had received unwanted sexual advances via digital messages. The report revealed that this type of abuse is often deliberate, coordinated, and designed to silence women involved in public life, while simultaneously undermining their professional credibility and personal reputation.

This strategy has already begun to have a tangible impact; 41 percent of all women surveyed stated that they practice self-censorship on social media to avoid exposure to abuse, while 19 percent of them reported that they practice self-censorship in their professional work as a result of online violence.

Resorting to self-censorship

As for female journalists and media workers, the picture seems more disturbing. 45 percent of this group reported practicing self-censorship on social media in 2025 – a 50 percent increase compared to 2020 – while nearly 22 percent reported practicing self-censorship in the context of their professional work.

Other notable trends indicate an increase in legal action and reports to law enforcement authorities by female journalists and media workers. In 2025, they are twice as likely to report incidents of online violence to the police (22 percent) than in 2020.

Nearly 14 percent of them are currently initiating legal action against the perpetrators, their accomplices, or their employers; This percentage increased from eight percent in 2020, which reflects a growing awareness and stronger determination towards achieving accountability.

Serious harm to women’s health and well-being

The report warned that this violence causes serious harm to women’s health and well-being, revealing that nearly a quarter of the female journalists and media workers surveyed (24.7 percent) have been diagnosed with anxiety or depression, due to their connection to the online violence they have been exposed to. About 13 percent of them reported being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

In this regard, Calliope Mengiro, Head of the Division for the Elimination of Violence against Women at UN Women, said: “AI is making abuse easier and more deadly, fueling the erosion of long-fought rights, in a context of democratic backsliding and network-based misogyny. It is our responsibility to ensure that systems, laws and platforms respond to this crisis with the urgency it requires.”

The report stated that there are still significant gaps in legal protection against online violence. As the World Bank highlighted last year, less than 40 percent of countries have laws in place to protect women from online harassment or cyberstalking. As a result, 44 percent of the world’s women and girls – nearly 1.8 billion people – remain without access to legal protection.