The executive director of the South African National Editors' Forum (Sanef) says online violence against journalists, especially women reporters, has become deeply personal, with direct threats of violence made against them and their home addresses leaked.
Speaking at the Centre for Analytics and Behavioural Change and TikTok round-table workshop that focused on tech-facilitated gender-based violence on social media, Reggie Moalusi said years of harassment, doxing and threats have not changed in the media space and that women journalists are now the targets.
“The trend is simple, it’s targeting the women,” he said. “It’s always the female journalists who are singled out. We’ve seen threats where someone tweets your address and says, ‘This is where you live, and here’s what I’ll do when I get there.’ That’s not just harassment — that’s terrorism. And [social media] platforms need to stop pretending they’re neutral. They’re not. They’re complicit unless they act.”
The round-table comes as the Competition Commission of SA has been investigating major tech platforms like Google, Meta, and others for allegedly abusing their dominance in the digital advertising and media space. The commission’s inquiry focuses on how these companies may be stifling competition, limiting revenue opportunities for local publishers, and undermining media sustainability.
It’s always the female journalists who are singled out. We’ve seen threats where someone tweets your address...
— Reggie Moalusi, SANEF executive director
However, Moalusi said the commission shouldn’t only focus on digital revenue.
“We’ve been engaging the Competition Commission, especially as they prepare to release their final report this month. We’ve said that social media platforms like X (formerly Twitter) must be part of that conversation — because their arrogance and lack of accountability over the years have made things worse.
“Platforms can’t hide behind claims of neutrality anymore. They are not neutral when they allow co-ordinated attacks on journalists, particularly women, to flourish unchecked. They’re complicit unless they take real action,” he said.
Dudu Mkhize from TikTok said the platform’s goal was to strike a balance between freedom of expression and banning harmful content.
“Many women journalists have told us they no longer feel safe online,” Mkhize said. “Our goal is to strike a balance between protecting freedom of expression and tackling the harmful, hateful content that thrives on social media. Through stronger community guidelines, keyword filters, and anti-bullying protections, we want to make these platforms safer spaces for everyone.”
Moalusi said that these issues shouldn’t only be addressed by TikTok but by other social media platforms as well.
“As we move towards next year’s elections, online abuse will only intensify. We can’t enter another election cycle where women journalists are harassed, threatened, and violated without consequence — while everyone else shrugs,” he said.
“TikTok has shown some willingness to engage and act, but we need the same commitment from every platform. We can’t just report accounts and hope for the best. There must be real consequences for co-ordinated harassment, for doxing, for gendered hate campaigns. Otherwise, it’s just business as usual.”
Moalusi said the M20 Declaration signed in September focuses on issues such as the safety of journalists, the ethical use of AI, and digital rights, all of which are now gaining traction internationally.
“We’re saying these are not just South African issues — they affect journalists all over the world. When it comes to digital rights and information integrity, these are the things that heads of state need to know. We don’t want that declaration to just be another document; we’re taking it to the G20 [meeting in Johannesburg in November].”
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