El Salvador

Journalism increasingly is being criminalized in El Salvador, resulting in an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty leading to self-censorship and limited freedom of expression. Since Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele—the self-proclaimed “coolest dictator” in the world--implemented a “State of Exception” in March 2022, the number of homicides and level of gang-related violence and extorsion diminished significantly, even as disappearances and accusations of human rights abuses and violations of civil liberties increased. During this same period, reports of threats and harassment against journalists increased as the government began cracking down on freedom of expression. According to the Journalists Association of El Salvador (APES), reported cases of attacks and other hostile behavior against journalists went from 77 cases in 2019 when Bukele first was elected, to 467 in 2024. Digital violence and aggression against women journalists were particularly common. In November 2020, a report by the Special Commission for the Investigation of Harassment of Journalists found that the government had used public resources to commit various crimes against journalists, including workplace discrimination, arbitrary acts and telecommunications intervention, and press freedom had been restricted by harassing journalists on social media, preventing journalists from attending press conferences, using government institutions to arbitrarily audit media outlets, and indirect censorship. President Bukele, as well as the press secretary of the presidency and the president of the Executive Commission of the Port Authority were named as those most responsible for violating press freedom and taking advantage of their positions to denigrate journalists. The Pegasus spyware also was found on the phones of journalists from independent news outlets like El Faro and Revista Factum. Some El Faro reporters also were denied work visas and ordered to leave the country. In 2021, the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights issues protective measures for El Faro journalists, concluding that their rights were at risk and calling on the government to investigate harassment and threats against journalists. The government also has used lawsuits and criminal accusations of money laundering and other crimes to attempt to silence journalists. At least one journalist has been arrested, and journalists’ families also have been targeted with criminal accusations in retaliation for journalists’ reporting. Social media frequently are used to harass and denigrate journalists. Bukele often uses X to lash out at critical journalists and accuse independent media outlets of spreading disinformation, calling them “terrorists” and “mercenaries” and accusing them of defending and aligning themselves with gangs. The government also passed a law threatening journalists with prison for reporting on gangs. In response, at least two dozen journalists have gone into exile or moved and El Faro even moved its base of business operations to Costa Rica. Journalists also frequently admit to self-censorship.