severe during the election period as we faced more threats to ourselves and our families.” Another editor added: “Violent rhetoric and harsh responses to the media increased during the elections,” while one noted that “it seemed like there were more military supporters on digital platforms during the elections.” 69% of the media stated Attackers would “platform shop” to exploit that threats worsened platforms with the weakest rule enforcement. 68% of media believed that comments and engagement during the elections became far more aggressive. As one editor observed: “The style of attack changed during the elections,” becoming far more violent. This led to noticeably increased audience anxiety and effectively alienated the media from its supporters at the very moment they were needed most. 4. The human cost of algorithmic moderation Digital platforms can further restrict media freedom through flawed content moderation systems. During the election cycle, these systems often overruled the media’s professional freedom to determine what is both newsworthy and ethically appropriate. 4.1. Over-moderation Every media outlet was affected by platform content moderation systems, deleting journalistic content. Photography was the most frequently affected medium, with 76% of media reporting that they had journalistic photos deleted by the platforms. Videos were reported to be deleted by 59% of media outlets. Even written reporting was not immune, with 20% of media reporting deletions of plain text content. One editor believed that most deletions were made by automated systems triggered by keywords and basic image recognition. These deletions struck at serious public interest 76% of media reported reporting during the election period. A journalist that they had journalistic noted that, “videos including the result of military violence were often deleted.” Moderation systems photos deleted by the often appeared to flag the aftermath of air strikes or platforms infantry raids as violations of safety policies rather than recognising them as information of exceptional public interest during the elections, as well as evidence of potential war crimes. Page 12 of 19