Dutch journalist Ingeborg Beugel faced a vicious online harassment campaign after a heated exchange between herself and the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was televised. Ingeborg had pointedly questioned Mitsotakis regarding the Greek denial of their illegal treatment of refugees, in response to which the Prime Minister responded visibly angrily. Upon the exchange becoming public Ingeborg was accused of being an anti-state propagandist, and her professional credibility was put to task by state supporters online.

Two more journalists were sent vile and racist emails this week, bringing the number of journalists, most of them women of color, targeted by an ongoing hate campaign to 20. Tanya Hayles, freelance journalist, founder of the online platform "Black Moms Connect'', and the latest victim of the vicious hate campaign, says she is amused by such attempts to silence her. Similarly, another journalist, Melissa Martin, who also received a hateful email by the “serial Canadian journalist insulter,” wondered at the pettiness of such trolls.

The widespread hate campaign against journalists of color escalated on Monday with two more women journalists receiving threatening and abusive emails. At least 17 journalists were targeted after right-wing politician Maxime Bernier tweeted a provocative message inciting his supporters. Freelance sports journalist Shireen Ahmed and CBC host Angela Sterritt were the latest targets of the ongoing hate campaign, weaponized racist and misogynistic language to threaten, intimidate and silence journalists of color. Maxime’s tweet has since been deleted but the organised campaign against journalists has continued unabated, with many of the vile emails sent from the same email account.

At least 18 journalists received vile emails after right-wing politician Maxime Bernier tweeted a provocative message to his followers. Displeased by their coverage of his work, and their line of inquiry, Bernier encouraged his supporters to “play dirty”, thus initiating a violent targeted harassment campaign. He even went so far as to publish the email addresses of some of the journalists online, making them vulnerable to online abuse. Although later taken down by Twitter, the journalists faced hostile digital attacks as a result of his tweets.

Journalist Saba Eitizaz received misogynist, racist and threatening emails as part of a malicious campaign launched against women journalists and women in colour.

At least eight women journalists received vile emails after right-wing politician Maxime Bernier tweeted a provocative message to his followers. Displeased by their coverage of his work, and their line of inquiry, Bernier encouraged his supporters to “play dirty”, thus initiating a violent targeted harassment campaign. He even went so far as to publish the email addresses of some of the journalists online, making them vulnerable to online abuse. Although later taken down by Twitter, the journalists faced hostile digital attacks as a result of his tweets.

Senior journalist Gharidah Farooqi has been hit with yet another onslaught of vitriol and a deeply gendered harassment campaign against her on social media. In an attack launched two days ago, vicious trolls have dragged her name into some explicitly doctored video clips.

Journalist Benazir Shah was targeted by an organized troll campaign instigated by Focal Person (Digital Media) to CM Punjab, Azhar Mashwani, after she reported on the Single National Curriculum introduced by the current government. The curriculum has been met with much criticism for, what many perceive as, religious orthodoxy and patriarchy embedded in its content. This is not the first time state officials have targeted journalists on social media, and the lack of accountability from the government regarding these bullying tactics make them complicit in the ongoing intimidation of media in the country.

Journalist Farnaz Fasihi has been on the receiving end of deeply gendered and misogynistic online attacks by Iranian trolls for over several months. Fasihi covers Iran for The New York Times and the nature of her work has made her extremely vulnerable to digital harassment. In response, The New York Times published a statement reasserting their support for their journalist, while Fasihi’s colleagues also came out in solidarity with her.

French journalist Isabelle Krismon has filed criminal defamation complaints against unknown people who attacked her on social media. The journalist was following the investigation on a political movement “La Printemps Republican”. Her investigative stories were published on 4, 8, and 25th February in an online magazine, Slate. CFWIJ is following the situation of the defamation charges filed by Isabelle Kersimon.

Former journalist at a leading Malayalam news network, Vineetha Venu, came forward about threats and harassment to her and her family in a Facebook post on Saturday, May 29. She alleged that she and her family were subjected to moral policing by cyberbullies of The Communist Party of India (CPI-M).

Reporter for CBC News, covering the coronavirus pandemic received online abuse in her email inbox, accusing her of fear mongering. Lauren has extensively covered the global impact of the virus on human lives and state policies as well as the vaccination process that is now underway. Journalists like Lauren are putting their lives on the line to ensure minimum misinformation regarding the online health crisis, and any abuse levelled against them is reprehensible.

The Edmonton Journal reporter, Lauren Boothby, was targeted online over her coverage about vaccination of Covid_19. The reporter received abusive hate mail after her article on May 15. The Coalition For Women In Journalism (CFWIJ) condemns the vicious hate speech targeted at Lauren. We demand Canadian authorities to identify the attacker and apply the necessary sanctions. Journalists are risking their health to report on the pandemic and deserve nothing but the utmost respect for it.