Threats, intimidation, discrimination and physical violence. The number of reports of incidents by Dutch journalists increased in 2024 for the third year in a row. That reported the advocacy group PersVeilig on Sunday in a press release.
Last year, 249 reports were received by PersVeilig. In 2023 and 2022 there were 218 and 198 reports respectively. Only in 2021 was the number of incident reports higher. That year, many protests took place in the Netherlands against corona measures, among other things. Since the pandemic, (photo)journalists are increasingly seen as an extension of the government, interest groups have noticed.
According to PersVeilig figures, in 2024 journalists were mainly threatened (99 times), discriminated against and intimidated (72 times) and physically attacked (56 times). Journalists were also abused more often. The advocacy group also observed a “striking” increase in the number of incidents during demonstrations and riots last year compared to 2023: 43 times journalists reported a threatening incident, compared to 15 times the year before. According to PersVeilig, this increase is a result of the unrest surrounding the pro-Palestine riots in major cities, especially in Amsterdam.
Scale
Due to increasing aggression towards the media and journalists, the media sector, the police and the Public Prosecution Service founded PersVeilig in 2019. The organization tries to protect journalists against aggression on the street, on social media and against legal charges. PersVeilig also collects data about incidents.
Last December, the car of Maastricht reporter Jeffrey de Vries was removed from the local internet platform What is Loos in Mestreech set on fire after he had previously been threatened by telephone. The reporter suspects that the attack is related to an earlier item about fake plumbers and scams. PersVeilig then arranged security for De Vries.
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