"We celebrate the recent ruling T-087 of 2023 of the Constitutional Court that recognizes online violence against women journalists and establishes responsibilities to prevent and punish it. This ruling is the product of a tutela action filed by Fundación para la Libertad de Prensa (FLIP, by its Spanish acronym) in October 2020, in which we represented nine women journalists from all over the country and several news outlets, who have been harassed on social networks. The attacks they suffer because they are women and journalists were driven by political actors who obtained benefits for their actions.
For FLIP, this ruling is fundamental because it reminds the State and public officials of their duty as guarantors of freedom of expression and the impact that their statements may have on the life and work of journalists. Similarly, the Court takes up FLIP's argument that messages on social networks by political actors attacking journalists activate hostile conversations against them and foster an environment of self-censorship in journalism and public debate."
