World Press Freedom Day – OHCHR Side Event

Welcoming Remarks

Christina Meinecke, OHCHR Regional Representative for Europe

Good afternoon, and welcome to the UN House in Brussels.

I am pleased to welcome you on behalf of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to this interactive dialogue: “The Information Battlefield: Digital Warfare, Censorship, and Risks to Women Journalists in Conflict”, co-hosted by OHCHR-Sudan, OHCHR-Palestine and ARTICLE 19.

We would like to open this space for conversation, bringing together journalists and media activists from Palestine, Sudan, and Ukraine, along with press freedom advocates, humanitarian actors, and policymakers.

Together, we are here to shed some light on the challenges to media freedom in conflict, by sharing experiences, learning from each other’s work and identifying areas of coordination and collaboration.

In today’s wars, the battlefield is also online. Digital tools enable new forms of restrictions to media freedom, including surveillance and harassment, while exacerbating traditional threats. Women journalists often carry further burden, facing threats not only for doing their job, but also for just being women. At the same time, online platforms also offer access to information which otherwise may not be easily available.

OHCHR is dedicated to protecting those who speak truth in the face of danger and repression. Through our monitoring, advocacy, and support to human rights defenders, OHCHR works to uphold media freedom, counter disinformation, and expose digital repression.

Today, I am pleased that we can listen to those who bear witness from the ground. Let us join forces to build stronger protection and take a united stance against efforts to silence journalists in times of war.

Thank you.