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In Gaza, there will soon be no one left to keep you informed |
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| On Monday, September 1st, over 270 media outlets from more than 70 countries joined forces to demand protection for journalists in Gaza, an initiative started by RSF and the global civic movement Avaaz. In a show of solidarity that spanned Brazil, Italy, Lebanon, France and beyond, these media blacked out their front pages, put banners on their websites and interrupted their radio and television broadcasts to convey a clear message: “At the rate journalists are being killed in Gaza by the Israeli army, there will soon be no one left to keep you informed.” Since the start of August, Israeli strikes have killed 11 Palestinian journalists, bringing the total number of reporters killed since the start of the conflict to 220 — at least 56 of them slain while doing their job. Together, the newsrooms participating in the blackout condemned the impunity for these murders, demanded protection for journalists in Gaza and called for the immediate evacuation of those who wish to leave. The campaign was carried out just ahead of the 80th United Nations General Assembly, set to begin on September 9th, and demanded strong action from the international community. |
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| INVESTIGATION Slow down: Russian propaganda ahead |
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| “They ban the truth! We show it.” This slogan from RT Doc, the documentary branch of the Kremlin-funded Russian TV channel RT, recently appeared on billboards along Italian roads. Yet RT has been banned throughout the European Union since February 2022, when Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. How did RT manage to pull off this stunt? Read the RSF investigation to find out more about the propaganda strategies at play. |
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| VIDEO - Violence in Serbia |
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| “Since the mass protests erupted, the threats and attacks on journalists have become more vicious and much more frequent,” says Serbian journalist Ksenija Pavkov. RSF has documented 34 attacks on Serbian journalists in less than two months. |
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| PROFILE - Andreï JvirblisDedication without borders |
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| | Franco-Russian journalist Andreï Jvirblis died on 17 August at the age of 62. A freelance journalist and RSF correspondent for over a decade, Andreï Jvirblis dedicated his life to defending press freedom. He generously used his experience, network and expertise to support journalists facing repression and censorship. He had a rich career: a staff journalist for Russian radio station Business FM and a regular contributor to the Russian service of the French radio Radio France Internationale (RFI) since 1990, he was widely recognised for his insightful analyses and independent perspective. His boundless solidarity with exiled, persecuted, and threatened reporters was illustrated by his work with Palestinian journalists and his documentary “Our Wonderful Past”, dedicated to Turkish, Russian and Belarusian journalists in exile. |
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| | United States: a new offensive against press freedom Donald Trump’s battle against the press continues. After dismantling public media outlets and ramping up attacks on American journalists, his administration is now targeting foreign reporters with a proposal to limit journalists’ visa durations to 90 days for Chinese citizens and 240 days for other nationalities. These visas are currently granted indefinitely (under certain conditions) and the proposed rule could have a chilling effect on foreign reporting in the US. |
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| | Syria: the judicial net tightens around the Assad regime Nearly ten months after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, the fight against impunity for crimes committed against journalists continues. French judges have issued seven arrest warrants against senior officials of the Assad regime for the bombing of the Homs press centre in February 2012, in which two journalists were killed and two injured. RSF is participating in the case. |
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| | Living in fear: RSF investigates the severe harassment of journalists in Chad “I no longer go out after 6 p.m. because I fear for my safety.” The frightening experiences that Djimet Wiche, a journalist from the news site Alwihda.info, recounted to RSF are far from uncommon in Chad. According to our exclusive investigation, over the past year and a half, at least six journalists have reported being followed by individuals in civilian clothes or in uniforms, often driving unmarked vehicles. This surveillance — a new tactic to silence journalists through fear — has increased since the constitutional referendum of December 2023 and severely undermines the country’s press freedom, which is already in decline. |
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| | Protests in Indonesia: journalists in danger At least 16 journalists have been assaulted, beaten or arrested while covering the protests shaking Indonesia. In at least five cases, the violence came from police forces. Online journalist for Bali Topik Rovin Bou was arrested on August 30th while reporting and, despite showing his press card, he was strangled, beaten and briefly detained by police. President Prabowo Subianto must urgently take measures to guarantee journalists’ safety. |
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| | Tunisia: a new blow to the right to informationThe Tunisian government has announced the dissolution of the National Authority for Access to Information (INAI), an independent public body that enabled citizens — and therefore journalists — to request access to public documents and information. This has exacerbated the toxic work environment for journalists in Tunisia, which now ranks 129th out of 180 countries in the 2025 RSF World Press Freedom Index after dropping 11 places. |
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| Finally Free! After being held for over two years in Kremlin prisons, Ukrainian journalists Dmytro Khyliuk and Mark Kaliush have been released. Yet 26 Ukrainian media professionals are still trapped behind Russian bars. |
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| HIGHLIGHT - SUPPORT RELIABLE JOURNALISM |
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| The Forum on Information and Democracy, an RSF initiative created in 2019, has published a report urging democratic states to introduce a digital tax on major online information platforms. This tax would generate the resources needed to support reliable, independent and sustainable journalism — strengthening citizens’ right to information. Threats to press freedom are multiplying around the world, and implementing this measure is urgent and vital. |
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| YOU CAN HELP: Don’t let silence reign in Gaza |
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| | On Monday, newsrooms across the globe united to warn the world that there may soon be no journalists left in the Gaza Strip. Without them, who will report the facts, bear witness to what’s happening on the ground, and show the crimes against journalists that the Israeli army is trying to justify? These news professionals are indispensable, and your support is essential — it allows us to continue defending journalists targeted in Gaza and around the world. |
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