'Chat GBV': Confronting AI-fueled gender violence threatening women journalists' safety, freedom of expression

As the world marks the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists on today (2 November), this year's focus turns to a new frontier of danger – the digital battleground where women journalists face rising waves of AI-driven harassment, disinformation, and abuse.

In an age where digital transformation has reshaped storytelling and activism, it has also opened the door to unprecedented threats. Women journalists, already navigating offline risks, now face technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV) – a growing crisis amplified by the rise of generative artificial intelligence, according to the United Nations.

This year's global commemoration, themed "Chat GBV: Raising Awareness on AI-facilitated Gender-Based Violence against Women Journalists," highlights how emerging technologies are being weaponised to silence and intimidate women in the media. 

From deepfakes and AI-generated smear campaigns to targeted surveillance and gendered disinformation, the spectrum of online abuse continues to widen – undermining both press freedom and gender equality.

According to UNESCO, nearly three-quarters of women journalists worldwide report having faced online threats, intimidation, or insults linked to their work. These virtual attacks often escalate into real-world danger, creating a climate of fear that restricts public discourse and deters women from fully participating in journalism.

Impunity remains a central concern. Since 1993, over 1,700 journalists have been killed for reporting the truth – and in nine out of ten cases, their killers remain free. Such lack of accountability, UNESCO warns, emboldens aggressors and weakens democratic systems by concealing corruption and human rights violations.

To confront these challenges, the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity continues to unite governments, media organisations, and civil society in promoting journalist protection mechanisms. More than 50 countries have since established national safety frameworks, but progress is fragile as technology-fueled violence grows more sophisticated.

This year's observance, hosted virtually from Paris, underscores the urgent need for coordinated global action. 

"Chat GBV" calls on policymakers, tech companies, and communities alike to speak up, develop safeguards, and hold perpetrators accountable – both in courtrooms and in cyberspace.

The United Nations first proclaimed 2 November as the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists in memory of two French journalists murdered in Mali in 2013.

UN chief calls for justice 

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called for urgent action to protect journalists worldwide and end the culture of impunity surrounding attacks against media professionals.

"Media professionals around the globe face mounting perils in their pursuit of truth – including verbal abuse, legal threats, physical attacks, imprisonment, and torture. Some are even killed," Guterres said in his statement on the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists. 

"On this International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists, we demand justice."

According to the UN, nearly nine out of ten killings of journalists worldwide remain unresolved. The Secretary-General highlighted Gaza as the deadliest place for journalists in any conflict and called for "independent and impartial investigations."

"Impunity anywhere is not only an injustice to the victims and their families – it is an assault on press freedom, an invitation to further violence, and a threat to democracy itself," he added.

Guterres stressed the responsibility of governments to act. "All governments must investigate every case. Prosecute every perpetrator. And ensure that journalists can do their jobs freely everywhere."

The Secretary-General also drew attention to the growing threat of online abuse, particularly against women journalists. "We must also confront the alarming rise in online abuse targeting women journalists, which goes largely unpunished and leads frequently to real-world harm. Digital spaces must be made safe for those who gather and report the news."

He concluded with a call for solidarity in defending press freedom: "When journalists are silenced, we all lose our voice. Let us stand together to defend press freedom, demand accountability, and ensure those who speak truth to power can do so without fear.