The immediacy of visual imagery and the rise of social media have created an environment in which cartoonists are particularly vulnerable to “censorship, punitive lawsuits, physical assault, imprisonment, disappearance and murder,” according to a reportto be issued on Tuesday by the Committee to Protect Journalists.
The report, commissioned after the attack on the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo in January, is the organization’s first report to focus specifically on threats to cartoonists. Elana Beiser, the group’s editorial director, said that while it was unknown whether dangers to cartoonists were rising, the Charlie Hebdo attack, which left 12 people dead, highlighted the sometimes deadly perils they face.
The report, written by Shawn W. Crispin, also surveys the impact of threats from extremists like the Muslim radicals who attacked the offices of Charlie Hebdo, presumably because of its cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad. That attack, along with previous ones elsewhere, have led to widespread self-censorship, the report says.
