International World Press Freedom Day (3 May 2025): Journalists in the Crosshairs of Protest Repression

While censorship and direct threats against journalists have long been recognised as threats to press freedom, a more insidious danger is emerging – one rooted in the use and misuse of criminal law. In recent years, legal mechanisms originally used to control activism, such as charges of unlawful assembly, public disorder or even terrorism-related offences, have been applied to journalists covering protests. No longer seen as mere observers, journalists are then treated as participants, exposing them to the same risks of arrest, prosecution and violence.
Examining how the tools of protest repression have been extended to journalism, this piece argues that criminal law, designed to protect public order, is being diverted to stifle not only dissent but also the documentation thereof. If we are to meaningfully defend press freedom today, we must address this creeping extension of criminal liability to those who bear witness.