New Digital Tool Aims to Protect Palestinian Journalists Amid Rising Violations

January 20, 2025 – Palestine – 

The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) has launched a new mobile application called “Raqeb” to help Palestinian journalists and human rights defenders safely document and report press freedom violations and related abuses, in response to a sharp increase in restrictions, arrests, and harassment faced by media workers in the occupied Palestinian territories. The app was unveiled on January 19, 2026, as part of broader efforts to strengthen accountability and protection mechanisms for those covering human rights issues and conflict-related developments.

Raqeb — meaning “The Observer” — was developed through a project funded by the European Union under the Engage Project, implemented in partnership with the Palestinian Women’s Association and An-Najah National University. The platform is designed to enable journalists working both in the field and in office environments to securely report violations such as arrests, summonses, coverage restrictions, equipment confiscation, threats, or online abuses. Encryption, biometric authentication, and personal data control features are built into the app to protect contributors’ identities and information, addressing safety concerns in a volatile environment where reporting can carry significant personal risk.

Users can submit detailed incident reports categorised by type, including textual descriptions, photographs, audio, video, and geotagged timestamps. Raqeb also features an interactive map for real-time incident location reporting and tools to browse and track previously logged violations over time, facilitating data aggregation and pattern analysis. Advocates involved with the initiative say these capabilities can help create a systematic and transparent database of press freedom violations that supports accountability and advocacy efforts.

The launch of Raqeb reflects the urgent context in which Palestinian journalists operate: international reports indicate that violations against media workers in the West Bank and Gaza have multiplied in recent years, including restrictions on movement, arbitrary detention, and restrictions on independent media access — factors that many rights groups say constrain the public’s right to information.

MADA has urged journalists, civil society actors, and fieldworkers to adopt the application as a standardized means for documenting and tracking violations, with the intention of supporting long-term efforts to protect freedom of expression and build a more accountable media environment.

Reference – 

https://ifex.org/new-app-seeks-to-protect-palestinian-journalists-amid-rising-violations/