When the Camera Becomes a Threat: Protecting Citizen and Community Journalists in Africa
By Sofonie Dala
Angolan Citizen Journalist, Community Communicator and Media Leadership Graduate
There is a question I believe African societies must confront more honestly:
What happens when the person documenting a community's problems becomes a target simply because she is holding a camera?
For me, this is not an academic question.
I am Sofonie Dala, an Angolan citizen journalist and community communicator. My commitment to media and public-interest communication has been strengthened by my postgraduate training in Media Management and Leadership at Rhodes University in South Africa, which I completed through an OSISA scholarship supporting the development of African women in media leadership.
My experience has taught me that journalism does not exist only inside traditional newsrooms.
Sometimes journalism begins on a street.
It begins when a citizen asks a question.
It begins when a community member documents an environmental problem.
It begins when someone interviews people whose experiences have never reached mainstream media.
It begins when an ordinary person decides that what is happening around them should not remain invisible.
This is one of the important contributions of citizen and community journalism.
But across Africa, those who perform this work can face a serious contradiction: society needs information, yet the people collecting that information can themselves become targets of intimidation, harassment and violence.
For women, the risks can be even greater.
The evidence is no longer anecdotal
The risks faced by women journalists are documented internationally.
UNESCO's earlier The Chilling research found that nearly 73% of surveyed women journalists had experienced online violence in connection with their work.
The situation has not improved sufficiently.
A 2025 global survey conducted for UN Women in partnership with UNESCO found that 75% of surveyed women journalists experienced online violence while doing their jobs. More concerningly, the proportion of women journalists who linked online attacks to offline abuse, harassment or assault increased from 20% in 2020 to 42% in 2025.
This demonstrates something that journalists have understood for years:
Online violence is not necessarily “just online.”
A threat made through a screen can contribute to fear in the physical world.
A misogynistic campaign can damage a journalist's reputation.
Repeated intimidation can lead to self-censorship.
And when journalists stop reporting because they fear what might happen to them, the public loses access to information.
UNESCO therefore rightly describes journalist safety as a public concern, emphasizing that independent journalism provides information about matters of public interest, social inequalities, wrongdoing and accountability.
Africa already has a human-rights framework for protecting journalists
This is not simply a matter of asking governments to be kind to journalists.
There are existing regional human-rights obligations and standards.
Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights protects freedom of expression and the right to receive information. The African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights has repeatedly emphasized the relationship between freedom of expression, access to information and the safety of journalists.
The African Commission's Resolution on the Safety of Journalists and Media Practitioners in Africa calls on states to create an environment in which journalists can work safely. It also calls for attacks against journalists to be investigated and prosecuted and for victims to have access to effective remedies. Crucially, the resolution specifically calls for measures addressing the gender-specific safety concerns of women journalists and media practitioners.
This means that journalist protection should not be treated as a favour granted by governments.
It is connected to broader obligations concerning human rights, freedom of expression, access to information and the rule of law.
Citizen journalism deserves serious recognition
There is another misunderstanding that needs to be addressed.
A citizen journalist does not necessarily work for a major newspaper, television station or international media organization.
Citizen journalism allows ordinary members of society to participate in gathering, documenting and disseminating information.
Community journalism similarly focuses attention on issues affecting particular communities.
These forms of journalism can be especially important where mainstream media have limited resources or where certain local issues receive little coverage.
But recognition must come with responsibility.
Citizen journalists should respect privacy, protect vulnerable people, verify information, avoid unnecessary harm and comply with applicable laws.
At the same time, members of the public must understand that disagreement with a journalist does not create a right to attack that journalist.
If someone believes that a journalist has violated their privacy or another legal right, there should be lawful mechanisms for complaint and remedy.
Violence cannot become the substitute for those mechanisms.
When communities misunderstand the camera
One challenge I have encountered in my own work is the suspicion that can arise when people see someone documenting events in their community.
A person holding a camera may be viewed with suspicion.
Someone conducting interviews in the street may be accused of having motives unrelated to journalism.
In communities where media literacy is limited, rumours and misconceptions can quickly replace understanding.
This is why Africa needs greater Media and Information Literacy (MIL).
People should understand why journalists interview members of the public, why documentation matters, what privacy means, what consent means and how legitimate complaints about journalistic conduct can be addressed.
The answer to misunderstanding should be education and dialogue, not aggression.
Women journalists face a double challenge
For women journalists, the problem is often more complex.
They can be targeted because of what they report and because they are women.
UNESCO identifies gender-specific risks including sexist hate speech, trolling, physical assault and other forms of gender-based violence.
The 2025 UNESCO-linked research makes the escalation particularly concerning: the connection between online attacks and offline harm more than doubled among surveyed women journalists, from 20% in 2020 to 42% in 2025.
This should fundamentally change how journalist-safety policies are designed.
A generic security policy is not enough.
Women journalists need gender-responsive safety mechanisms.
UNESCO has already supported initiatives designed specifically to help newsrooms develop such policies, including a 2026 programme involving newsrooms from Africa and other regions.
Africa should expand these efforts beyond traditional newsrooms and consider the realities of independent, freelance, citizen and community journalists.
My own experience changed how I understand journalist protection
My experience as an African woman working in public-interest communication has made these issues personal.
I have encountered hostility while carrying out activities connected to documentation and public-interest reporting. I have also experienced difficulties involving authorities and members of the public.
I do not present my experience as evidence that every African community or every public institution behaves in the same way.
That would be unfair and inaccurate.
Instead, I see my experience as part of a broader question:
How do we create an African environment in which people can document reality without fear of violence or intimidation?
That question requires institutions, governments, media organizations and communities to work together.
What African governments should do
Based on African human-rights standards and UNESCO's work on journalist safety, I believe governments should prioritize at least six areas.
1. Protect journalists through law
Freedom of expression and access to information should be protected through laws consistent with regional and international human-rights standards.
2. Investigate attacks
When journalists are threatened or attacked, authorities should investigate credible allegations and ensure that victims have access to effective remedies.
The African Commission has explicitly called for perpetrators of attacks against journalists to be investigated, prosecuted and punished.
3. Create gender-responsive protection mechanisms
Women journalists require safety policies that recognize gender-specific threats, including online abuse, harassment and physical violence.
4. Improve media and information literacy
Citizens should understand the legitimate role of journalism and know the lawful mechanisms available when they believe journalists have acted improperly.
5. Protect digital spaces
Governments, platforms and media organizations need stronger responses to online threats that can translate into offline harm.
6. Strengthen access to information
A society cannot demand responsible journalism while making legitimate public information unnecessarily inaccessible.
Transparency reduces rumours.
Access to information strengthens accountability.
And accountability strengthens democracy.
Citizens also have responsibilities
This conversation cannot be directed only at governments.
Citizens have responsibilities too.
If you see a journalist documenting something, you can ask questions.
You can request clarification.
You can express disagreement.
You can challenge inaccuracies.
You can use legal mechanisms when you believe your rights have been violated.
But you should not respond with violence.
The journalist holding the camera may be documenting a problem that will eventually affect your own family.
The story that seems inconvenient today may become the evidence that protects someone tomorrow.
Protecting journalists protects the public
UNESCO's approach is important because it recognizes that journalist safety is not merely an occupational issue. Journalism provides a public service by helping societies understand events, expose wrongdoing and hold powerful institutions accountable.
The African Commission's position reinforces the same principle from a regional human-rights perspective: freedom of expression and access to information cannot be meaningfully enjoyed when journalists operate under intimidation, pressure or coercion.
Therefore, protecting journalists is ultimately about protecting something larger than journalism.
It is about protecting the public's right to know.
My message as an African woman journalist
I did not enter public communication because I believe journalists are above the law.
Quite the opposite.
I believe journalists have responsibilities.
We must verify.
We must be ethical.
We must respect privacy.
We must protect vulnerable people.
We must distinguish facts from allegations.
We must be accountable for our work.
But accountability must operate in both directions.
A journalist can be held accountable without being attacked.
A journalist can be challenged without being threatened.
A journalist can be corrected without being silenced.
And a woman journalist should never have to choose between her safety and her right to participate in public life.
Africa does not need fewer people asking difficult questions.
Africa needs safer conditions for people who ask them responsibly.
My camera is not a weapon.
My questions are not an attack.
My work is not a threat to society.
The purpose of journalism is to help society see itself more clearly.
And when we protect those who document that reality, we protect not only journalists like me.
We protect the public's right to information, accountability and truth.
Sofonie Dala
Angola | Citizen Journalism • Community Communication • Media Leadership
