A report released by the Coalition in Defense of Journalism, a group made up of 11 Brazilian civil society organizations, exposed the main challenges faced by the press and journalists during 2024 municipal elections in Brazil. The study, carried out in partnership with Labic at the Federal University of Espírito Santo and ITS Rio, analyzed episodes of violence against journalists between Aug. 15 and Oct. 27, covering social networks and offline attacks.
The monitoring highlighted X (formerly Twitter) as the platform with the highest concentration of hostile speech, recording 35,876 attacks, equivalent to 17.7% of the total analyzed. TikTok, with 10,239 occurrences, and Instagram, with 10,889, also appeared as environments for the spread of aggression. Terms such as “trash,” “militant” and “fake news” were widely used to discredit journalists and media outlets.
The report also pointed out that women journalists were the main victims, accounting for 50.8% of attacks, despite representing 45.9% of the professionals attacked. On Instagram, they were the target of 68.3% of hostilities, while on X the rate was 53%. Gender-based violence was accompanied by episodes of racism, such as those directed at Pedro Borges, co-founder of the portal Alma Preta Jornalismo. After Pablo Marçal's interview on Roda Viva, Borges received racist attacks that included insults regarding his hair."
