Brazil recorded 2.7 cases of violence against journalists per week

Report on violations of freedom of expression prepared by the Brazilian Radio and Television Association (Abert).

This content indicated that the number of press and media workers who experienced non-fatal violence increased by 21.69 percent compared to 2020. There were 230 in 2021 and 189 in the previous calendar.

Similarly, according to Abert, the number of attacks against reporters doubled in 2021 compared to the previous year, going from four to eight. Firearms were used in 50 percent of cases.

In terms of killings of journalists, 2021 was the second year in which no event was recorded since Aber began writing the report in 2012. The first time occurred in 2019.

Despite the above, the association noted the murder of Weverton broadcaster Rabelo Froes last year. The crime was not counted as it is still under investigation.

The study also indicates that a report by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) warned of the killing of 55 media professionals in the world in 2021.

For its part, the report shows another investigation by Bites.

The research reveals that in 2021 there were four thousand hypothetical attacks on journalistic work per day; 167 per hour three per minute.

A year ago, there were 7.9 thousand attacks per day, 331 per hour, and six per minute. The exhibition considers “Vulgar words, derogatory expressions and contempt against professional press” as assaults.

Brazil recorded half a million offensive messages against the press on the social network Twitter between March and June 2021, and about 20 percent accounts for possible automated behavior, another thesis revealed last September.

The investigation was conducted by the NGO Reporters Without Borders and the Brazilian Institute of Technology and Society to find out the scope of these attacks on Twitter, a network of nearly 20 million active users in the country with a strong presence of specialists from the press.

The investigation also demonstrated a higher level of commitment to the user groups that support President Jair Bolsonaro’s administration on the networks.

A statement from the study authors notes that “large contact groups, who are critical of the government, and female journalists were the preferred targets of the attacks.”

mem / ocs