Specialised Resources

The Chilling: Global trends in online violence against women journalists | UNESCO and ICFJ

3/05/2022

‘The Chilling: Global trends in online violence against women journalists’ presents an edited extract from a forthcoming interdisciplinary study carried out by the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ). The first of its kind in terms of its scope and methodology, it is based on a global survey of 901 journalists from 125 countries; long-form interviews with 173 journalists and experts; two big data case studies assessing over 2.5 million social media posts directed at prominent journalists Maria Ressa (The Philippines – laureate of the 2021 Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize) and Carole Cadwalladr (UK); 15 detailed country case studies; and a literature review covering hundreds of scholarly and civil society research publications. 

Two excerpts of The Chilling report were launched on the occasion of the 2022 World Press Freedom Day. What More Can News Organisations Do to Combat Gendered Online Violence? And Assessing Big Tech’s Response to Online Violence Against Women Journalists respectively addresses the roles of news organisations and Internet companies in tackling online violence and creating a safer online space for women journalists. They build on the multifaceted research conducted to provide concrete recommendations to these essential actors. (English only)

Photo credit: © Franziska Barczyk