Press freedom in Serbia is in tatters as journalists face a worsening crisis that indicates the severity of the situation with verbal and at times physical attacks are becoming frequently experienced by most in the tour of the duties as members of the media.
Often, the harassment come from senior political figures, with former Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić and other high-ranking government officials among the top perpetrators.Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières or RSF) has ranked Serbia as 104th out of 180 nations in its 2026 index due to a sharp surge in state-linked violence and political pressure.
Online harassment has been common and there have been instances of spyware infiltrating journalists’ devices. Reporters have been physically assaulted too and a handful of journalists now live in exile.
Press freedom advocates are now calling for international solidarity even as some journalists are doubling down on professional standards and using their reportage as a means of defending their distressed colleagues.
According to RSF and other international watchdogs like the group known as Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR), independent reporting faces an unprecedented clampdown in the Central Balkan state in Central and Southeastern Europe.
MFRR reported a spike of incidents with 209 press freedom violations occurring in 2025, more than double the 84 cases recorded in 2024.
There is also police involvement as law enforcement officers increasingly acted as aggressors rather than protectors, accounting for at least 38 documented attacks on media workers since 2025.
In the meantime, RSF has designated ex-president Vučić as a “press freedom predator” as it noted that Serbia’s ruling elites regularly target independent outlets—such as N1 and Nova S—with hostile rhetoric and brand them as “terrorism” or anti-state organizations.
“Critical journalists face restricted access to public information and official interviews. (There is also) self-censorship as tight political control, paired with state-funded propaganda and smear campaigns by pro-government tabloids, has forced many reporters into heavy self-censorship,” the press freedom advocate pointed out.
This compounded by the lack of accountability as legal harassment has become prevalent. Last year, judicial authorities secured only three convictions out of 140 criminal assault cases against media workers, thus creating a climate of entrenched impunity.
