On 9 May 2026, counter-terrorism police in Mogadishu arrested and beat up The Guardian’s reporters Mohamed Bulbul, Abdihafid Nor Barre, and Abdishakur Mohamed Mohamud, for documenting the state-sanctioned torture of a female inmate. This act reflects the global decline in press freedom, which has hit a 25-year low, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF). When a government, like Somalia’s, views investigative journalism as a threat to national security, it will weaponize the state against human rights. Specifically, such a view will affect the right to information, a key factor in a free society. To reclaim press freedom, the government must end its monopoly on security, and journalists need private legal defense funding and digital shields to protect them.
When a country imposes restrictions on its media, the consequences extend beyond the mere silencing of journalists. The deployment of national defense personnel for offensive actions against members of the press, a crucial component of governmental oversight, will precipitate an escalation of human rights violations, pervasive corruption, and the misrepresentation of the realities of state failure. Without an independent press, the public remains vulnerable and uninformed of the realities occurring around them. With Somalia ranking 126th out of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Report 2026, the media’s relevance continues to dwindle, serving as a tool for the government rather than a source of information for citizens to understand the country’s political, economic, and social realities.
Citizens must push for laws that limit the government’s power to prosecute journalists, whistleblowers, and advocates who inform the public about the happenings in Somalia. In advanced democracies, public-interest defense or whistleblower protection laws protect informants, provided they can establish that their actions are for the greater public good, despite their limitations.
In 2019, the European Union passed a directive requiring all 27 member states to enact laws protecting those who publish information about evil deeds. Countries like France, Germany, and Denmark have adhered to these directives. Ghana, an African country, has also decriminalized acts by journalists surrounding the release of public information about administrative corruption and environmental hazards. In Bulbul’s case, decriminalizing public-interest journalism will serve the public interest.
Sometimes, the press’s vulnerability in African countries stems from insufficient funding. To counter state aggression against the media in Somalia, a decentralized, private-sector-led media protection fund is needed. This fund will help journalists afford strong legal defense teams in cases like Bulbul’s, including emergency relocation for journalists facing threats.
In Afghanistan, when journalist Shukrallah Esmat, who worked for Radio Killid, was fleeing from the Taliban, RSF moved him and his family to Pakistan. Later on, the organization moved them to Germany on emergency humanitarian visas. In countries like Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Russia, privately funded media organizations, such as the Journalist in Exile Fund and the Journalists in Distress (JiD) Network, have stepped in to evacuate journalists and entire newsrooms who have faced legal action by their governments.
In Somalia, journalists and media houses can partner with these organizations to establish and support them in the country.
Given the possibility of tracing journalists’ digital footprints, independent newsrooms in Somalia should mandate the use of the digital shield protocol, as in other countries facing human rights violations. In Bulbul’s case, the harassment he faced before his arrest suggests a high level of state surveillance, and a digital shield protocol would have kept him a step ahead of the government.
El Faro, an independent newsroom in El Salvador, once suffered a spyware attack from the government. The government used this spyware to learn what they were working on and to intimidate the journalists there. The newsroom, in response, completely overhauled its operational protocols by using ephemeral communications and localized virtual proxy networks, including Apple’s Lock Mode, to prevent the government from knowing what they were working on.
Journalists and media houses in Somalia can share information securely and bypass the state’s monopoly by adopting the digital shield protocol.
To reduce the terrible and inhumane conditions journalists face in Somalia, there must be a culture of accountability, especially from the government, and protection of freedom of expression. Somalia needs a free media that can investigate the government and inform citizens about their right to information. Press freedom is vital to social and political development and economic prosperity.
Hannah Omokafe Dennis is an African Liberty writing fellow.
The Chanzo is a co-publisher of this article.
Photo by Iwaria on Unsplash.