- The United Nations said that the centralization of the media in the hands of a few, the financial collapse of dozens of independent news organizations, and the increase in national laws and regulations that stifle journalists, further narrow the circle of censorship and threaten freedom of expression.
- "At least 67 media workers will be killed in 2022 - a staggering 50 per cent increase from the year before. Nearly three-quarters of women journalists have experienced online violence, and one in four women journalists have been physically threatened."
Brussels - New York: Europe and the Arabs

The Secretary-General of the United Nations called for the need to stop the threats and attacks against journalists and their detention and imprisonment for doing their work, stressing that the world stands by journalists in their quest to defend the truth.
Mr. Antonio Guterres - in a message on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day - warned that freedom of the press "is under attack in every corner of the world," noting that the truth is threatened by disinformation and hate speech, "both of which seek to blur the difference between truth and illusion, and between science and conspiracy." ".
He called for an end to lies and misinformation and to stop targeting the truth and truth-tellers.
The United Nations commemorates World Press Freedom Day annually on May 3, 2023. This year's celebration marks the thirtieth anniversary of World Press Freedom Day.
The Secretary-General said that this international day has been, over the past three decades, an opportunity for the international community to celebrate the work of journalists and media workers, noting that this day highlights a basic fact, "which is that our freedom depends entirely on freedom of the press."
basis of democracy and justice
Freedom of the press, according to the Secretary-General, is the foundation of democracy and justice. "It gives each of us the facts we need to form our opinions and claim our rights. As this year's theme reminds us, press freedom is the sine qua non for the realization of human rights."
He pointed out that the increasing concentration of the media in the hands of a few, the financial collapse of dozens of independent news organizations, and the increase in national laws and regulations that suffocate journalists, all of this further narrows the circle of censorship and threatens freedom of expression.
An invitation to speak with one voice
Mr. Antonio Guterres warned that journalists and media workers are directly targeted while carrying out their vital work, whether online or offline. "Harassment, intimidation, detention and imprisonment have become the norm." He added:
“At least 67 media workers have been killed in 2022 – a staggering 50 per cent increase from the year before. Nearly three-quarters of women journalists have experienced online violence, and one in four women journalists have been physically threatened.”
The Secretary-General said that the United Nations had drawn up ten years ago a plan of action on the safety of journalists aimed at protecting media workers and ending impunity for crimes committed against them, calling on the world - on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day and on all occasions in which it falls - to He speaks with one voice to address these crimes.