The NGO Press and Society Institute (Ipys) of Venezuela registered 130 cases of “violations of freedom of expression” in the country between January and October 2025. Which, in his opinion, reflects the “sustained deterioration of the conditions for practicing journalism and the direct impact of impunity on informative work.”
Through a press release, released this Sunday, Ipys detailed that the “most common attacks” were the “harassment and threats (29 cases). Also stigmatizing speech (19), arbitrary detentions (14), internet restrictions (33) and limitations on access to public information (15).”
“Behind each number is an attempt to silence an uncomfortable truth and discourage citizen vigilance over power,” the NGO stated.
Furthermore, Ipys assured that the “lack of judicial sanctions has consolidated a circle of impunity in which the aggressors are not prosecuted, the victims are not compensated and society becomes accustomed to silence.”
“This scenario contributes to a climate of fear and helplessness that violates not only journalists, but also the collective right of citizens to be informed,” the note added.
How many journalists are detained in Venezuela according to Ipys?
Ipys counts 18 journalists and press workers detained in Venezuela, although other organizations increase this figure to 22. In nine of these eighteen cases, according to the NGO, “there has been no official statement on their whereabouts or on the judicial proceedings opened against them.”
“These prolonged detentions, without information or procedural guarantees, form a pattern of forced disappearances. and imprisonments of a political nature that seek to discipline and punish the exercise of information,” the statement warned.
For Ipys, in Venezuela “Informing is still a penalized task” and for this reason he reiterated his call for the authorities to investigate what he considered “crimes against journalists.” As well as “punish those responsible” and “guarantee” that “these violations” are not repeated.
In 2024, the NGO documented 383 cases in which it considered there were “violations” to information guarantees in Venezuela. Which represents an increase of 64.4% compared to 2023, when there were 233 complaints.
