During this period, there were no attacks on press freedom equivalent to those experienced between 2009 and 2015, the most hostile stage for journalists and media since the return of democracy. However, worrying signs were recorded. For example, President Javier Milei's speech has not moderated the harassment deployed against journalism since the beginning of his term. In addition, some limitations and bills condition the circulation of information.
The national law on access to public information was modified last September, with the introduction of exceptions that, due to their breadth or ambiguity, go against constitutional and international standards, as well as the principles in the law itself on "presumption of publicity," "maximum disclosure," and "limited scope of exceptions." The decree that modifies the law establishes, among other things, that "information containing private data generated, obtained, transformed, controlled, or guarded by private individuals or legal entities or due to the absence of a committed public interest will not be considered public information."
Other restrictions on access to information were recorded at the provincial level. After La Voz del Interior filed an injunction, the Córdoba Legislature only released data on the number and identity of contracted and permanent staff.
Some measures limited journalistic coverage of official acts or reports from officials, as happened with journalists covering the presidential speech at the opening of sessions of the National Congress.
Regarding announcements, the presidential spokesperson stated that a microphone silencing system would be implemented in the usual press conferences at the government house. A controversial criterion for selecting accredited journalists and those who could ask questions was also announced. President Milei has not held any press conferences since taking office in December 2023. He only grants interviews to a small group of journalists.
Security forces beat several reporters during public demonstrations. On March 12, photographer Pablo Grillo was injured with a tear gas capsule while taking photographs of a confrontation between protesters and police in front of the National Congress.
On January 27, the Argentine Association of Journalistic Entities (ADEPA) condemned the threats against journalist Nicolás Diana by businessman Pablo Otero for an article on tax evasion linked to his company. Months earlier, Otero had filed multimillion-dollar lawsuits against other journalists who investigated his movements, constituting a typical case of SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation).
In November, the owner of the Noticias A portal, Luis Ángel Caro, was detained in Salta for six hours for disobeying a court order that prevented him from publishing offensive content against Governor Gustavo Sáenz. The detention and the judicial decision that imposed censorship against the journalist constituted violations of freedom of expression.
In reports presented at the last two IAPA meetings, President Milei's propensity to insult journalists and media was highlighted, a trend that persisted during this period. Over fifty journalists and media have been targets of insults or corruption accusations without presenting evidence or filing judicial complaints.
In many cases, President Milei makes generalizations like those he made in an interview with Lex Fridman last November: "The majority of journalists in Argentina, except for exceptions, are liars, slanderers, defamers, and even if the monopoly they demand to reign again persisted, they would ask for money because they are extortionists, thieves, corrupt, and when you take a privilege away from a sector, they get angry. That's why journalists are so violent. We took away the microphone monopoly, and, by taking away the microphone monopoly, we took away the privilege of extortion."
"The insult, gratuitous offense, or generic and unproven accusations," ADEPA stated in a declaration made public at that time, "far from favoring a virtuous exercise of free expression by all actors—media, journalists, citizens, and officials—contaminate public debate, generate climates of harassment and symbolic violence, and carry a quota of intimidation that can lead to self-censorship or even translate into other types of violence."
In recent weeks, the president has again launched a series of targeted and generalized insults against journalists, even going so far as to assert that "people don't hate these hitmen with credentials of supposed journalists enough. If they knew them better, they would hate them even more than politicians."
Dozens of journalists have been victims, in recent months, of harassment campaigns on social networks or unfounded accusations or imputations by digital activists linked to the government. The phenomenon is not new, but it tends to intensify and affects freedom of expression in the face of possible self-censorship and the possibility that verbal violence may lead to physical violence.
On the day of his inauguration, President Milei announced the suspension of official advertising. However, decentralized public bodies and state-owned companies continued using funds for advertising. In a letter addressed to IAPA and eleven other entities linked to the defense of freedom of expression, Editorial Perfil denounced a discriminatory distribution of these funds, evidenced by the journalistic company's exclusion.
