‘I hope you all get Hebdo’d’: NUJ calls for government and social media companies to act on increasing abuse against journalists
Journalists in the UK and Ireland are increasingly becoming the targets of “shocking” abuse and harassment both online and in-person, restricting their ability to do their work, according to the National Union of Journalists (NUJ).
New data from the union, published on the week of World Press Freedom Day, reveals disturbing reports of journalists facing death and rape threats, racism, physical attacks and intimidation.
The NUJ launched a tool called the Journalists’ Safety Tracker in November 2024 to allow journalists - whether members or not - to log incidents of abuse, assisting the union’s campaign for improved journalist safety.
By the end of 2025, 32 reports had been submitted confidentially by 26 freelance and staff journalists based in the UK and Ireland. These figures represent only a fraction of the true scale of abuse and harassment journalists face, as many incidents remain unreported due to lack of knowledge of the tracker, normalisation of abuse as an occupational hazard, and lack of accountability for redress.
When asked who was responsible for the abuse, the journalists listed members of the public, organisations, anonymous actors, and, in some cases, the police.
Targeted abuse against women journalists
The tracker reveals a worrying pattern of violent, graphic abuse directed at women journalists.
In some instances women journalists reported “daily rape and death threats” as well as public photos being doctored in a sexually explicit manner and then widely shared.
Some have reported incidents to the police, their employer, and local MP, while others have not. One female journalist who received anonymous rape threats to her work email said she deleted the message immediately because of a “stiff upper lip culture” in the office and feeling “too embarrassed to share it with anyone or escalate.”
The NUJ carried out a separate survey of members in January to find out the degree to which journalists have been logging incidents to the Journalists’ Safety Tracker and to understand why many cases have gone unreported. That survey highlighted further examples of abuse, including “threats of rape”, explicit catcalling, and “sexually motivated emails and harassment”.
According to UNESCO, in 2025 75% of women journalists experienced online violence, while doing their jobs.
Physical attacks
The NUJ tracker documented 18 reports of physical attacks against journalists. This included two reports of sexual assault; six reports under the heading stalking/harassment; six involved in-person verbal abuse; and two cases of people being arrested.
A number of journalists reported physical abuse while covering protests and riots. In one case, a reporter said they were punched, strangled and pepper sprayed by several members of the public, “causing physical and psychological harm” - including struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). They added that the attack has caused them to be “more cautious with what events I attend and report on.”
In Northern Ireland, a journalist reported that a viable pipe bomb was thrown from a car at their house three days after the Police Service of Northern Ireland uncovered and delivered a death threat message to them. They said the police have delivered seven further death threats as a result of intelligence.
A 2025 Amnesty International report confirmed that journalists in Northern Ireland face regular death threats and attacks while living and working in the most dangerous place in the UK to do their job.
Multiple journalists reported a discriminatory aspect to the abuse they faced. Over a third of those who reported incidents identified as disabled or had a health condition, while others reported racial and religious abuse or profiling.
In one incident, a Pakistani freelance journalist described being "grabbed and shoved by a police officer” at a London protest in 2025. “[The officer] said I wasn't a real journalist after I showed him my press pass,” they said. “I felt very upset and felt targeted for the colour of my skin as the white journalists around me and in front of me were not pushed, shoved and questioned if they were press.”
Online abuse
In addition to physical incidents, more than half of the reports contained an element of online abuse with the majority occurring on X/Twitter.
One journalist said they received “threats by thousands” of people on X/Twitter, Facebook and TikTok because of a court report they wrote on protestors being charged with public order incidents. The vile threats included finding where the journalist lived, burning down their home, and following them to and from work. “The threats [...] made me unable to sleep or function and left me in fear of doing my job as a journalist,” they said.
Another journalist who had posted on X/Twitter referencing industrial action at their workplace received a comment that said: “I hope you all get Hebdo’d" - a reference to the massacre at the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris in 2015.
‘Part of the job’
Despite the serious nature of the reports submitted to the tracker, fewer than half of the respondents said they had informed the police, while only 13 told their employer, and five approached their MP for support.
The NUJ previously found that 96% of members believe abuse and harassment risks silencing journalists and censoring debate. Despite this, 78% agree that “abuse and harassment has become normalised and seen as part of the job.”
The NUJ has said that strong and coordinated action is needed urgently to protect journalists and to hold those who abuse them in any form accountable for their actions.
Laura Davison, NUJ general secretary, said:
“It is always shocking to hear accounts of abuse and serious online threats. Abuse should never be viewed as part of a journalist’s job.
“As we have seen from the data, not only does this behaviour have a hugely detrimental impact on the lives of individual journalists, it also has a chilling effect on the ability of journalists to do their jobs and therefore freedom of the press.
“Clearly, we need more action to address abuse against journalists in all its forms - something the union will continue to campaign for through our parliamentary group and other channels. The union welcomed the recent introduction of a dedicated safety officer in every UK police force, providing journalists with direct access to support when faced with abuse and threats of violence.
“But it’s clear that more needs to be done. Many journalists express a lack of faith that those responsible for abusing them will be held accountable. Some submissions highlight harassment of journalists by police forces, particularly while covering protests.
“Bona fide newsgatherers have the right to report freely and we call on the government to protect journalists from online and offline harassment, threats and physical attacks. This includes widely promoting the Journalists’ Safety Tracker and introducing anti-SLAPP provisions in the King’s Speech to prevent powerful actors abusing the law to intimidate journalists and suppress reporting.
“The data also shows that it’s time for social media companies to finally recognise their responsibility in preventing the abuse and harassment published on their platforms and pushed by their algorithms. The evidence shows that the anonymity enjoyed by so many on social media only makes the abuse more likely to happen and harder to stop.
“We hugely appreciate the time journalists have taken to submit information - including distressing personal testimonies that can be incredibly painful to recount - to the Journalists’ Safety Tracker. The union will continue its work to make sure these serve as a catalyst for change.”
About the NUJ Journalists’ Safety Tracker
The NUJ Journalists’ Safety Tracker was launched on 1 November 2024 against a backdrop of growing online and in-person threats against journalists. Journalists and media workers - whether NUJ members or not - can provide information to the tracker about online and physical incidents, including threats received on social media platforms, impersonation via malicious emails and the use of spyware. They can also inform on Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) including the identities of suspected claimants.