JX Fund – European Fund for Journalism in Exile

This report introduces the previously unknown Spyware ResidentBat used by the Belarussian KGB (secret service) – It targets Android phones and is installed through physical device access. Broad application permissions and an accessibility service allow the app access to a wide range of data, spanning phone calls, SMS, encrypted messenger chats and files on the phone.

Journalist and propaganda expert Pavlyuk Bykovsky analyzes the role propaganda plays in the Lukashenko regime and how it has evolved since the mass protests of 2020. Bykovsky’s contribution not only helps to understand the specific principles of the Lukashenko dictatorship, but also sheds light on the general mechanisms of propaganda and disinformation.

On the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) is releasing a new report “Ending the Silence on Online Harassment of Journalists”. Authored by journalist and tech policy advisor Elodie Vialle, the report provides an overview of the widespread phenomenon that is online harassment targeting journalists, whose normalisation makes it harder to address.

Amid rising global repression and shrinking donor support, understanding how exile media remain viable, independent, and impactful is increasingly urgent. The study identifies key factors that enable media organizations to adapt, survive, and continue serving their communities from abroad. It also offers practical recommendations for exile media, media development actors, donors, and policymakers.

Defending trustworthy news means knowing how to counter the propaganda tactics that oppose reliable reporting to further ideological goals. To this end, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has published a new report compiling all the content from The Propaganda Monitor, a website dedicated to exposing the way propaganda and disinformation operate so they can be tackled.

This research explores the gender and ethnicity-based challenges faced by Kurdish female journalists, focusing on their professional experiences in Turkey and in exile.

In an increasingly hostile global environment for independent journalism, journalists under severe political pressure (JUSPP) represent the most vulnerable segment of the media landscape in the OSCE region. In the context of this report, JUSPP are defined as journalists and other media professionals who face systematic threats and persecution from state or non-state actors due to their reporting and dissemination of information.

This Monitoring Report takes stock of the press freedom situation in 36 EU Member States and candidate countries during the first six months of 2025. Between January and June, the Mapping Media Freedom database documented 709 press freedom violations, affecting 1249 media workers or entities.

The report examines how China is exporting its model of internet control via Geedge Networks, a company tied to the Mesalab lab. Geedge supplies surveillance and censorship tools to countries like Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Ethiopia, and Myanmar, enabling real-time monitoring and traffic control. Leaked documents reveal how these systems mirror China’s Great Firewall and are used both domestically (e.g., Xinjiang) and abroad.

EUvsDisinfo has published an article detailing how Lukashenka’s regime continues its harsh retaliation against Belarusians five years after the 2020 protests. The piece highlights ongoing arrests, torture, and exile as part of the government’s efforts to suppress dissent and maintain control.

Last summer, Russian authorities began throttling YouTube playback speeds, rendering the popular video platform practically unusable. This has pushed many Russians to change their media consumption habits. Meduza analyzes the current and potential consequences of the Kremlin’s ongoing campaign against YouTube.

The Human Rights Watch’ report, “Disrupted, Throttled, and Blocked: State Censorship, Control, and Increasing Isolation of Internet Users in Russia,” documents the impact of the government’s increasing technological capacities and control over the country’s internet infrastructure.

Authoritarianism is on the rise globally – with far-reaching consequences. More and more journalists are forced to leave their countries in order to continue their work. At the same time, states undergoing autocratisation – where once-democratic systems become increasingly authoritarian, or authoritarian regimes descend fully into autocracy – are extending their repressive tactics beyond their own borders.

The Global Forum for Media Development’s (GFMD) Mapping of media assistance and journalism support programmes in Asia, Pacific and Oceania region is a timely data-based analysis of media assistance in the Asia region between 2020-2024. It will be an important resource for stakeholders — donors, international NGOs, local civil society organisations, media, and journalists — to assess donor-based funding in the region.

With the closure of USAID resulting in a 25 percent cut to the world’s media development budget, independent media outlets across the world have become more vulnerable to existential threats ranging from bombings to disinformation. It is vital that the rest of the world steps up to support journalists in these trying times.

This Strategic Vision Paper is an essential guide to understanding the Belarusian media in exile. Despite relentless state terror, Belarusian media in exile continue to reach up to 39% of the audience inside the country. A striking 94% of their audience opposes the war in Ukraine – a powerful testament to the influence of independent journalism.

Born from the University of Oregon’s international symposium on journalism-in-exile, this book gathers the reflections and accounts of journalists who have faced danger, persecution, and threats to their safety due to their commitment to journalistic integrity, while also highlighting the work of advocacy groups supporting press freedom in repressive environment.

Although physical attacks against journalists are the most visible violations of press freedom, economic pressure is also a major, more insidious problem. The economic indicator on the RSF World Press Freedom Index now stands at an unprecedented, critical low as its decline continued in 2025. As a result, the global state of press freedom is now classified as a “difficult situation” for the first time in the history of the Index.