Journalists safety and media freedom in Somalia

According to SMSJ network’s record, 63 Journalists and reporters were detained or arrested, four Journalists have been murdered, eight were injured and 25 others have been tortured while two media stations have been shut down in Somalia and Somaliland from June 2022 to June 2023. The incidents happened while journalists were on duty, covering different feature stories from numerous events, demonstrations, protests, corruption and injustice related stories, Al-Shabab related stories, humanitarian and disasters in the country including floods and other incidents in almost all the regions of the country. This clearly indicates that level of press freedom remains complicated and in addition journalists have limited space of work and access to information and information access is very critical comparing to other previous years. 

The Objective of Somali Mechanism for Safety of Journalists (SMSJ) annual report is aimed at presenting the fundamental situation of Somali media and number of violations and threat inflicted to Journalists and reporters, the documentation and monitoring of cases that are threat of safety of Journalists and Press freedom while freedom of expression is necessary for citizens. 

The SMSJ is a coalition of Somali media rights defenders and journalist unions that prioritises the safety and protection of journalists. The SMSJ comprises the following organisations: Federation of Somali Journalists (FESOJ), Media Association of Puntland (MAP), Media Women’s Network (MWN), Somali Independent Media Houses Association (SIMHA), Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS), Somali Media Association (SOMA) and Somalia Women Journalists Organisation (SWJO).