 marked #WorldPressFreedomDay2025 with a call for the release of imprisoned colleagues and a warning that censorship has increasingly shifted to the digital sphere.){kind=link}
The International Journalists Association (IJA), a Germany-based network of media workers living in exile, marked World Press Freedom Day on Saturday with a call for the release of imprisoned colleagues and a warning that censorship has increasingly shifted to the digital sphere, enabled by tech platforms and authoritarian regimes.
On #WorldPressFreedomDay2025, the IJA launches a digital campaign to spotlight the growing threats of online censorship and political repression, advocating for the protection of free expression in the digital age. pic.twitter.com/sdsMBTOTHi
— International Journalists Association (@journalists_en) May 3, 2025
In a statement titled “Truth in Exile: Journalism Under Siege, Democracy in Peril,” the IJA described a global media environment in which independent journalism is attacked by both state repression and unaccountable algorithms. The group said journalists are not only being jailed and silenced through traditional crackdowns, but also digitally erased or shadowbanned on major platforms, particularly when reporting from exile.
The IJA, formed by journalists forced to flee Turkey amid post-coup purges and sustained pressure on critical media, said it represents a global network of displaced reporters who have continued their work despite exile. “Exile did not silence us — it redefined our resistance,” the group said in its statement.
While the IJA did not cite specific figures, the Stockholm Center for Freedom, a monitoring group based in Sweden, reported that as of March 30, 2025, 35 journalists are currently behind bars in Turkey, 11 convicted and 24 awaiting trial, while 167 more are wanted by Turkish authorities, often living in exile or in hiding.
The group condemned what it called “platform authoritarianism” — the outsourcing of censorship from governments to private corporations. It warned that media suppression is now taking place through shadowbans, algorithmic de-ranking and opaque moderation decisions that disproportionately target independent and exiled journalists.
“We raise our voices for journalists in prison, silenced for asking the right questions … and for the truth itself, manipulated, distorted and attacked as a threat,” the statement read.
The association called on governments to stop criminalizing journalism and to release detained media workers, urged tech companies to commit to transparency and fairness and appealed to international institutions to recognize digital repression as a human rights violation.
Turkey has long faced criticism for its treatment of the press. Reporters Without Borders ranked it 159th out of 180 countries in its 2025 World Press Freedom Index. Authorities frequently prosecute journalists under terrorism or defamation laws.
The IJA said journalism must cross borders and firewalls to survive in today’s environment and reaffirmed its support for reporters working under threat — from İstanbul to Kabul, Caracas to Yangon.
“Because journalism is not a crime. Because exile is not the end of the story. Because without press freedom, democracy cannot survive,” the statement said.