UN Report: AI Deepfakes, Harassment Silence Nigeria’s Women Reporters
Rising digital threats against women journalists are colliding with modest gains in Nigeria’s press freedom standing, exposing a widening gap between online safety and broader media conditions ahead of World Press Freedom Day.
A new report by UN Women shows that online violence targeting women journalists has doubled since 2020, with nearly one in four affected individuals reporting anxiety and depression linked to the abuse. The findings are contained in Tipping Point: Online Violence—Impacts, Manifestations and Redress in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Age, produced in collaboration with TheNerve and other partners.
The report documents a pattern of increasingly coordinated digital attacks, including harassment, reputational damage, and privacy violations. About 12 per cent of surveyed women journalists and human rights defenders said they had experienced non-consensual sharing of personal images, while six per cent reported being victims of deepfake manipulation. Nearly one in three respondents disclosed receiving unsolicited sexual advances online.
The consequences are measurable. Around 41 per cent of respondents admitted to self-censoring on social media, while 19 per cent said they had scaled back their professional output due to safety concerns. According to UN Women, these attacks are often designed to silence women and undermine their credibility in public discourse.
Kalliopi Mingerou, Chief of the Ending Violence Against Women Section at UN Women, warned in the report that emerging technologies are accelerating the scale of harm. She stated that “AI is making abuse easier and more damaging, fuelling the erosion of hard-won rights in a context marked by democratic backsliding and networked misogyny.”
Alongside these findings, Reporters Without Borders ranked Nigeria 112th out of 180 countries in its 2026 World Press Freedom Index, an improvement from 122nd position in 2025. With a score of 48.11 out of 100, the country returns to its 2024 level but remains classified within the “difficult” category for press freedom.
RSF’s assessment is based on five indicators covering political, legal, economic, social, and security conditions for journalism. Nigeria recorded improvements in four areas but saw a slight decline of 0.99 points in the social indicator, reflecting ongoing societal pressures on journalists.
The organisation noted that Nigeria remains one of the most challenging environments for media professionals in West Africa. Journalists are “regularly monitored, attacked and arbitrarily arrested,” according to the report, with election periods often triggering spikes in violence. In August 2024, about 30 journalists were reportedly assaulted, detained, or exposed to tear gas and gunfire while covering nationwide protests.
RSF also highlighted persistent impunity, stating that crimes against journalists frequently go unpunished even when perpetrators are identified.
Globally, Norway retained the top position for the tenth consecutive year with 92.72 points, while Eritrea ranked last for the third straight year. The 2026 index also recorded significant improvement in Syria following political changes, marking one of the sharpest upward movements in recent rankings.
The combined findings point to a shifting media landscape where traditional press freedom metrics show gradual progress, yet digital spaces are becoming increasingly hostile, particularly for women.