End Impunity: Europe’s journalists are under attack – and their abusers walk free

By Peter Vandermeersch Mediahuis Fellow: Journalism and Society

When journalists are vilified online for doing their job, the damage extends beyond the individual. It corrodes public debate, deters independent reporting, and weakens democracy.

Across Western Europe, the pattern is clear: coordinated waves of digital abuse, aimed mainly at women and minority journalists, with almost total impunity for the perpetrators.

I've seen it up close

As editor-in-chief of NRC Handelsblad, a respected Dutch broadsheet, I saw one of our columnists, Clarice Gargard, become the target of a ferocious digital mob in 2018. Her "crime" was livestreaming an anti-racism protest.

Within days, she received more than 7,600 abusive messages -one just threatening her to "shoot her in the neck".

Dutch prosecutors eventually convicted 24 offenders - a rare success - yet most walked away with fines of less that 500 euros or community service (between 28 and 58 hours).

The verdict was symbolic, not deterrent.

In June of this year, as CEO of Mediahuis Ireland, I saw how it could be done in a different way.

In Dublin, three women journalists working for one of our papers, The Sunday Worldendured months of intimidation before their harasser, who threatened to "put a bullet in one of them" was jailed for 11 years. The National Union of Journalists hailed the judgment as "an important signal."

It was also a reminder of how seldom such justice is achieved.

A European epidemic

These stories are part of a wider trend. The Media Freedom Rapid Response documented 1,548 press-freedom violations in Europe in 2024, including 359 online attacks - up sharply from the year before.

In 83.8 percent of those cases, the perpetrators were never identified.

Private citizens, not governments, are now the main aggressors. Social-media anonymity and algorithmic outrage have turned ordinary users into digital mobs.

The NUJ's Safety Tracker for the UK and Ireland found three-quarters of journalists say online hostility has worsened in the past year; 95 percent call it "widespread."

UNESCO's global data paint the same picture: 37 percent of women journalists say political actors are among their online attackers, and one in five report that digital threats later spilled into real-world intimidation.

A new form of censorship

Online abuse isn't just unpleasant - it shapes coverage.

In 2025, the German broadcaster Dunja Hayali stepped back from social media after months of hate campaigns. Others simply avoid reporting on topics such as migration, gender, or extremism.

The result is self-censorship by exhaustion.

As an editor and a CEO I increasingly saw reporters withdraw from social platforms or contentious beats because the personal cost is too high. The chilling effect is real, and measurable.

Laws without enforcement

Europe has legal tools - national laws on threats and stalking, the EU's Digital Services Act, and the UK's Online Safety Act - but enforcement lags behind intent. Police units are overstretched, prosecutors hesitate to pursue digital hate crimes, and platforms still profit from engagement, however toxic.

Only the most spectacular cases reach a courtroom, and sometimes then, sentences are light. Most journalists quietly block, report, and give up when nothing happens.

A test of democratic resolve

Europe likes to present itself as a haven for press freedom. But when nearly 84 percent of online attackers remain anonymous and unpunished, that claim rings hollow. Online abuse has become the cheapest way to silence a journalist.

This is not just a safety issue; it's a test of democratic will. When reporters stop speaking, citizens stop hearing. Diversity of thought erodes. The loudest voices - often the angriest - dominate the conversation.

What must change

Three urgent steps could start to reverse the trend:

1. Professionalise digital policing. Law enforcement needs trained cyber-harassment units capable of tracing threats quickly and prosecuting them effectively.
2. Hold platforms accountable. Under the Digital Services Act, social-media companies must act on coordinated harassment - removing content, preserving evidence, and cooperating with investigators.
3. Support journalists inside newsrooms. Media organisations must treat online abuse as a workplace hazard. Training, digital-security tools, and psychological support should be standard.

Defending journalists online is not about protecting fragile egos. It is about defending the public's right to be informed without fear or manipulation.

Peter Vandermeersch is former editor-in-chief of De Standaard and NRC Handelsblad; from 2019-2025 he was CEO of the Irish Independent and The Belfast Telegraph, and he is now Mediahuis Fellow: Journalism and Society.

This article is made available to members of the WAN-IFRA community to republish on or around 2nd November to mark the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists. The views expressed are those of the author.

WAN-IFRA External Contributor

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