A free Syrian media? They've waited 14 years for this moment

Following the Arab Spring in Syria, a wave of independent media emerged aiming to support the transition to democracy.

For 14 years, Syrians awaited the fall of the Assad regime which finally became a reality in December 2024. But paradoxically, these media are now on the verge of collapse themselves. And sadly, without them the dream of a united and democratic Syria risks remaining just that; a dream. 

“Now we can finally walk freely on the streets with our cameras, we can write under our own names, we can open offices in Damascus, in Aleppo, in Latakia,” the Syrian journalist Sara Ajlyakin told me on 9 December 9 — the day after Syrian dictator Bashar Al Assad fled to Russia and the brutal Assad regime collapsed. 

Ajlyakin fled Syria in 2013 and has since lived and worked in exile.

As a central part of the Al-Jumhuriya media platform and alongside other Syrian journalists and independent media outlets, she has fought to bring critical journalism, in-depth analysis and debate to the Syrian people — despite censorship, threats and financial pressure.

Assad's Syria — the 'Kingdom of Silence'

For decades, the Assad regime’s survival depended on the brutal suppression of any critical voices. The Syrians called it the ‘Kingdom of Silence’.

Now, with the fall of the regime, a historic opportunity for Syria to build a free and pluralistic media landscape has emerged. The independent media that International Media Support works with, however, are nonetheless facing an acute economic crisis.

Support for free media is dwindling drastically, exacerbated by Donald Trump’s decision to close large parts of USAID’s development programme.

At the same time, international sanctions are still in place.

Intended to weaken the regime, they now make it extremely difficult for independent media — previously working in exile — to establish themselves back home in Syria. Without swift action, critical voices risk being silenced right when they are more important than ever. 

A successful transition to a freer and more democratic Syria largely depends on the existence of independent and credible media. Without a media free from sectarian bias, economic and political pressure, and foreign interference, it is almost impossible to create public debate that can support democratic reform. 

When I visited Damascus in February for the first time since the fall of Assad, I could clearly sense that the Syrians I spoke to were both hopeful and anxious. With the fall of the regime, state institutions collapsed, institutions which now must be rebuilt. Exactly how and what this leads to will be determined over the coming months and years.

Media by WhatsApp

Regrettably, we are already witnessing the collapse of the Syrian information infrastructure. State media is closed, the new regime communicates with its citizens via WhatsApp, and social media is overflowing with disinformation and hate speech. At the same time, Gulf-funded media outlets stand ready to fill the information void. 

If independent media disappears, the population will lose access to credible information, allowing for disinformation, propaganda and hate speech to thrive.

Those in power can act without checks, threatening democratic reforms and prolonging instability.

In the past month, brutal sectarian violence has flared up in the Latakia province, and in this context, we have seen free media play a crucial role in holding political leaders accountable and calling for reconciliation rather than deepening ethnic and religious divisions under the slogan of "Justice, Not Revenge’. 

To understand what we risk losing, it is important to know the role of the free Syrian media sector.

In the years that followed the Arab Spring in 2011, a wealth of new media emerged — a sprouting of seeds driven by the realisation that the revolution needed independent and critical journalism.

Many of the new media outlets subsequently had to close due to political persecution or economic collapse.

Journalists were killed in unprecedented numbers, while others were forced into exile. Despite such extreme circumstances, several independent media outlets survived. They had to operate with anonymous reporters inside Syria, who daily risked torture, imprisonment and death for their work. 

If the international community hesitates, Syria's independent press risks succumbing — and with it, a central building block for democracy.

Several European countries that have already invested in independent Syrian media must act now to secure the media's role in countering disinformation and state-building after Assad's fall. A strong press is also crucial to exposing corruption and ensuring that future investments in Syria's reconstruction are used as intended. 

The European Union must work to ensure the protection of press freedom — otherwise Syria risks once again becoming a ‘kingdom of silence’. If we let that happen, we extinguish the hope for a free and democratic Syria — a hope for which the Syrians have already paid an unbearable price.