Social media platforms have given journalists many opportunities – facilitating the exchange of views and information, promoting their content, and improving audience engagement – but they’ve also created new threats to safety and wellbeing, particularly for women journalists.

As noted in the RSF 2020 Index, social media has generated prolific online harassment and abuse for journalists across Africa reporting on contested social, economic and political issues.1 These online threats include targeted smear campaigns that erode the foundations of journalism by chipping away at journalists’ resolve to provide independent, critical reporting on crucial issues.

In 2020, UNESCO and the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) conducted a survey on online violence against women journalists in 15 countries, including Ghana and Nigeria.2 They found that 73% of those who participated in the survey had experienced online violence, with Facebook and Twitter ranked among the least safe platforms for women journalists.