This Foreign Policy Centre and Justice For Journalists Foundation (JFJ) event will examine the way in which journalists and other media workers in the post-Soviet region have been targeted by the authorities and others such as organised crime and nationalist groups. It will build on the findings of a recent JFJ report that showed 4,611 attacks on media workers were registered in 12 countries in the post-Soviet region (except the Baltic States) in 2020, two and a half times more than the findings for 2019, and these trends have continued in 2021. The COVID-19 pandemic ushered in new laws and regulations ostensibly to target misinformation but which have been used against those criticising the government, while there have been new crackdowns on protest activities and on local groups working with international partners. JFJ have documented an increasing number of ‘hybrid attacks’ which combine physical assaults, harassment (both online and in person) and judicial or economic pressure.

Listen to an audio recording of the event below and you can watch the video of the event here.