On World Press Freedom Day (WPFD), we shed light on the state of press freedom around the world, spotlight worrying trends and explain recent developments that are putting journalists in jeopardy.
Around the world, journalists are being silenced, jailed, and disappeared – simply for doing their jobs. From Israel and the Occupied Territories to the United States, China to Philippines, governments are increasingly resorting to authoritarian practices, weaponizing vague laws, judicial systems, and brute force to suppress press freedom.
These attacks on the press are not isolated incidents; they are often at the core of deliberate strategies to dismantle the very foundations of human rights.
The erosion of press freedom is a warning sign – one that signals a broader slide toward authoritarianism.
Why is press freedom important?
Press freedom is instrumental to the fulfillment of the human right to freedom of expression, in particular the right to seek, impart and receive information and ideas of all kinds.
A free press plays a vital role in holding governments and other powerful actors to account. In order to do this, the press must be able to report freely and independently without being threatened, intimidated or punished.
A free press reporting on issues of public interest that shape our lives is a key building block of any rights-respecting society. Yet in many countries, journalists face repression and attacks.
Governments must promote and protect free and independent media and maximize transparency and access to information – not restrict it.
How is press freedom currently being attacked in the USA?
Since January 2025, the Trump administration has consistently attacked journalists for reporting on its actions with scrutiny. Examples of these attacks include the following:
- Deportation of USA-based journalist and asylum-seeker Mario Guevara who reported on ICE raids
- FBI seizure of personal and professional devices from a Washington, D.C. reporter’s home
- White House’s launch of a website focused on attacking journalists and media outlets not in line with the administration and the
- Weaponization of the Federal Communications Commission’s authority to approve licensing and corporate media mergers based on corporate rejection of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
The active targeting and discrediting of reporters and the media by those in power is a common authoritarian practice.
USA: JOURNALIST GEORGIA FORT FACES CRIMINAL CHARGES
On January 30, Georgia Fort—founder of a Black-communities-focused press outlet—and several reporters were arrested after she livestreamed federal agents arriving at her home.Â
Fort and others had previously documented a January 18 protest inside a Minnesota church, where a pastor served as an ICE field office director. The U.S. Department of Justice is prosecuting Fort and fellow journalists on serious charges, including a hate crime, in what appears to be a continued pattern of targeting the press since January 2025 for reporting on the Trump administration. These charges seem intended to intimidate and silence journalists. We urge authorities to withdraw all charges against all members of the press.
ISRAEL AND THE OCCUPIED TERRITORY: PALESTINIAN JOURNALISTS FORCIBLY DISAPPEARED
On October 7, 2023, Nidal al-Waheidi and Haitham Abdelwahed, journalists from the occupied Gaza Strip, were detained by Israeli forces while reporting on the Hamas-led attack and are held in conditions constituting enforced disappearance.
Since then, Israeli authorities have refused to disclose their whereabouts or the legal grounds for their arrest. After two and a half years with no information about their fate, authorities must immediately disclose their whereabouts and the legal grounds for detention, grant them access to legal representation, and ensure their humane treatment. Unless charged with an internationally recognized criminal offense, they must be released without delay.
This case underscores the urgent obligation to uphold international human rights standards and protect journalists’ rights to report freely.
Order Postcards to Support These Journalists!
AIUSA created postcards you can use to raise awareness and mobilize action.
Stand with Journalists Worldwide—Take Action to Defend Press Freedom
Amnesty International USA’s country and thematic specialists shine a light on courageous journalists around the world who risk everything to expose injustice.