When we think about threats to press freedom in Europe, our attention often turns eastward, towards states with more overt control of the media. However, 2024 and early 2025 have painted a far more complex picture.
In fact, Western European democracies — long idealised as safe havens for free expression — are showing troubling signs of erosion in press freedom. Journalists across Western Europe are increasingly subject to physical violence, harassment, online attacks, and institutional pressure. Demonstrations have become flashpoints for physical attacks. Reporting on highly sensitive topics like corruption, migration, environmental issues, and war increasingly puts journalists at risk of severe harassment, ranging from hate speech and doxing to intrusive surveillance.
To better understand what’s at stake, we need to look at the growing number of incidents across Western Europe. In addition to reports compiled by journalist associations and projects such as Mapping Media Freedom, the cases below were also highlighted by the country-based research teams of the Media Pluralism Monitor (MPM) during the 2025 data collection. The report, which will elaborate further on each national context, will be published in June 2025.
Emerging patterns
Across Western Europe, a few common threads emerge. Journalists face the greatest risks while covering demonstrations that are politically charged. This was observed particularly during the super-election year of 2024, when tensions were heightened by far-right mobilisation. Heightened risks have emerged during protests tied to global issues, such as pro-Palestinian demonstrations, where journalists have been increasingly exposed to physical violence and harassment.
Beyond demonstrations, these same fault lines — political polarisation, global crises, environmental activism — along with sensitive topics like corruption and migration, also drove a rise in digital harassment targeting journalists. Alarmingly, the use of deepfakes has emerged as a new weapon to intimidate journalists and undermine their credibility, adding yet another layer of complexity to the threats they face.
These worrying trends come at a time when Europe strives to position itself globally as a staunch defender of democratic values and human rights. Yet, the reality on the ground reveals significant cracks in the armor. Below are a few telling examples.
Germany
In 2024 alone, Mapping Media Freedom recorded 228 reports of attacks or threats against journalists in Germany. Many of these instances occurred during public demonstrations. Freelance journalist Kili Weber was attacked twice: once in January by Querdenken activists and again in April during a far-right rally in Freiberg. Welt TV reporter Steffen Schwarzkopf was assaulted live on air while covering the Thuringia elections. In Berlin, Iman Sefati from Bild was beaten and threatened while reporting on a pro-Palestinian protest. One of the most alarming incidents came in May: Ignacio Rosaslanda, a video journalist from Berliner Zeitung, was punched in the face and tackled by police while filming police evacuation of pro-Palestinian activists at Humboldt University, despite identifying himself as press. He was handcuffed and detained for hours without medical care.
The Netherlands
Mapping Media Freedom reports from 2024 show an increase in journalist harassment, with 31 incidents recorded, marking a sharp increase from the 15 cases reported in 2023.
On 17 February 2024, photographer Sebastiaan Barel was physically assaulted in The Hague while covering clashes between Eritrean anti-government and pro-government groups. Barel was hit by a stone and threatened with a stick while photographing the violence. On 9 October 2024, another freelance photographer in Ugchelen was physically pressured by a local resident to delete photos showing him and his son supporting an asylum reception centre. The man grabbed the journalist by the collar and seized the camera until the images were erased. Additionally, a number of individual attacks on journalists occurred throughout 2024, including a journalist in Gendringen that was publicly threatened and grabbed by a business owner, a freelance journalist in South Amsterdam that was targeted with an explosive thrown at his front door, damaging his home and car, and another in Schiedam that was violently pushed inside his workplace in retaliation for his reporting, suffering head, neck and wrist injuries and filed a report with PersVeilig. All incidents prompted police reports and safety concerns.
Most of these incidents reported, while serious and threatening, do not appear to be politically motivated or part of organised campaigns against the press. Rather, they reflect a growing climate of hostility and personal retaliation against journalists, often triggered by local tensions or individual grievances.
Belgium
In October 2024, the Flemish Journalists’ Association (VVJ) published its annual report based on cases submitted through its platform for reporting incidents, Persveilig.be. The findings revealed a concerning number of attacks against journalists throughout the year. Mapping Media Freedom also reported a notable increase in incidents, with 22 cases reported in 2024 compared to the 8 reported in 2023.
Reporters covering protests were not only attacked with objects but also had their equipment forcibly seized, and in at least one case, a journalist for ZIN TV was violently arrested by police during the protest, which led her to file a complaint for illegal detention and mistreatment. The situation further deteriorated following far-right victories in the local elections. In Ninove, French-speaking journalists were insulted and physically assaulted while covering post-election events. After the local elections of October 2024, Vlaams Belang — the Flemish far-right political party — launched a smear campaign with sponsored Facebook posts, stating to “Never believe DPG Media”, calling Vlaams Belang an extremist party and refusing their advertisement. Newspapers Het Nieuwsblad, De Standaard and Belga (news agency) were targeted with a bot campaign by a pro-Russian hacker group. News presenter Hanne Decoutere (VRT) was the target of a deep fake video in which she allegedly asked people to download a casino game application.
Spain
According to the Mapping Media Freedom platform and the Council of Europe’s Platform for the Protection of Journalism and Safety of Journalists, 13 attacks and physical threats against journalists were recorded in Spain during 2024.
Among the incidents, police forces physically assaulted journalist Fermín Grodira while he was covering a protest against the Generalitat’s management during the DANA storm. Protesters also attacked an RTVE news team during a farmers’ demonstration. Beyond physical aggression, political figures and their teams engaged in smear campaigns and issued online threats; notably, Miguel Ángel Rodríguez publicly threatened journalists from elDiario.es.
Harassment also came from private actors: business owners like Daniel Esteve insulted and threatened La Sexta journalists on social media. Meanwhile, groups and supporters of the far-right launched coordinated online threats against journalists such as Silvia Intxaurrondo, after she expressed critical opinions in public broadcasts. Attacks by anonymous actors were also documented, including a cyberattack targeting the websites of Mèdia.cat, a media observatory.
Italy
In early 2025, Italy became the centre of a significant surveillance controversy when it was revealed that the Israeli spyware “Graphite,” developed by Paragon Solutions, had been used to target journalists and human rights activists. Among the confirmed targets were Francesco Cancellato, editor-in-chief of Fanpage.it, and Luca Casarini, founder of the NGO Mediterranea Saving Humans. Both are known for their critical reporting on government policies, particularly concerning migration and humanitarian issues.
The Italian government acknowledged its contractual relationship with Paragon Solutions but denied any involvement in the unauthorised surveillance activities. Following these revelations, Paragon Solutions terminated its contract with Italy, and various civil society organisations called for transparency regarding the Italian government’s relationship with the company. Italy thus joins the growing list of European countries that have been accused of unlawfully surveilling journalists with spyware.
Another digital attack occurred from 5 to 18 July 2024, when the website of investigative outlet IrpiMedia was targeted by a distributed-denial-of-service (DDoS) attack. According to IrpiMedia, its website was inaccessible to readers for two weeks, and during the peak of the attack, it was bombarded with 26 million access requests in just 24 hours.
Several news outlets in Italy have been targeted and vandalised by anti-vaccine activists over the past year, some of these explicitly linked to the conspiracy group ViVi. In February 2024, the headquarters of Edinet and the offices of Libertà were vandalised with offensive graffiti. Similar incidents occurred at MontichiariWeek and Giornale di Brescia, where messages like “TV and newspapers, liars and Nazis” appeared. In March 2025, five media offices across Lombardy were simultaneously attacked, raising concerns about coordinated actions. Investigations into other incidents are ongoing.
Attacks on journalists’ vehicles have also been reported, raising concerns of intimidation. On 24 November 2024, the car of journalist Gaetano Fioretti — known for reporting on illicit waste trafficking and illegal construction — was vandalised outside his home in Casalnuovo di Napoli in what he described as an act of intimidation. On 2 June 2024, journalist Luisa Biella’s car was set on fire in Merate, an act linked to her reporting on local issues. Additionally, on 5 April 2024, Manlio Viola, editor-in-chief of BlogSicilia, experienced repeated vandalism of his car, with local unions condemning these incidents as attempts to silence investigative journalism. Other relevant physical attacks include the assault on journalist Alberto Dandolo on 25 May 2024 in his Milan home by unidentified perpetrators, which left him injured and threatened, prompting a police report and widespread condemnation, as well as the attack on Andrea Joly, a reporter for La Stampa, on 20 July 2024 in Turin by CasaPound neo-fascists while he was covering an event, resulting in injuries that required hospital treatment.
France
In July 2024, the journalists’ union SNJ denounced the rise of attacks against journalists during the first six months of the year (it quadrupled during the month of June 2024). The Mapping Media Freedom platform monitored 94 alerts of media freedom violations in France during the year. During the summer of 2024, three journalists (Mohamed Bouhafsi, Karim Rissouli and Nassira El Moaddem) revealed how they have been targeted by racists insults and threats on their social media but also at their personal home. The far-right website Réseau Libre published a list of 180 personalities, including journalists, who deserve “a bullet in the neck”. Repeated acts of vandalism against the studio of Radio Bip, a local radio based in Besançon, demonstrate how far-right intimidation operations do not only target mainstream media figures but are actually generalised all over the territory.
Environmental journalists also face growing intimidation, exemplified by the recurring threats against the journalist specialised in the agro-industrial complex Morgan Large. Some journalists were held in police custody in 2024 in France, such as detention Disclose journalist Ariane Lavrilleux, who has been spied on, arrested and held for 39 hours, has had her home, her social networks and her phone being searched. She has been put under investigation for breaching State secrecy while reporting on France’s sales of weapons abroad and the involvement of the military in an operation killing civilians in Egypt. Another journalist, working for Blast and investigating France’s weapon sales to Israel, suffered custody for 32 hours and intimidation by policemen to reveal her sources. Intimidation also happened during the Olympics, as exemplified by the ten hours detention of two journalists willing to follow the action of Saccage 2024 activists.
Press freedom is not self-sustaining
In 2024, the European Union took steps to protect press freedom through key legislation, including the Anti-SLAPP Directive and the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA). These frameworks are a crucial step forward, but they must be paired with real-world enforcement and cultural change (check out our EMFA Observatory for more information).
Without urgent attention, the shrinking space for journalism risks becoming a vacuum where disinformation and foreign interference thrive. Malicious actors are already exploiting public distrust to fill that void.
Most importantly: as the above-mentioned cases highlight, press freedom can never be taken for granted anywhere. Even in societies that have long seen themselves as models of free expression, vigilance remains essential.
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