Exiled Nicaraguan journalists face digital hate campaigns and online gender-based violence attributed to supporters of the Nicaraguan regime, presided over by Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo. A study by La Sala sent to the EFE agency documented the use of cross-border doxing, the dissemination of personal data, against communicators forced to leave the country.
According to EFE, the analysis covers nine media outlets founded and led by women. The research, updated in May 2026, points out that all the female directors of those media outlets remain in exile, where their public visibility exposes them to digital harassment.
One of the directors cited by the report The Cost of Reporting: Nicaraguan Women Journalists in Exile recounted: “I have hidden all the staff and I am the one who faces the public and receives the greatest attacks, the hate campaigns, denationalization, confiscation. Whatever there is to receive, I have received it.”
Exile and forms of repression
EFE indicated that, since 2018, the Ortega and Murillo government expelled and declared “traitors to the homeland” at least 23 critical journalists, who lost their nationality and, in some cases, their properties. According to the Managua Court of Appeals, this measure reaches 317 opponents, dissidents, and critics.
A striking illustration depicts the dire situation of the independent press in Nicaragua, under the repression of police forces and the watchful eyes of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo.
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Among the affected communicators are Lucía Pineda, from 100% Noticias; Jennifer Ortíz, from Nicaragua Investiga; Patricia Orozco, from Agenda Propia; as well as Cristiana Chamorro, Sofía Montenegro, and Silvia Nadide Gutiérrez.
La Sala researcher Duyerling Ríos explained that the directors not only lead the editorial line and manage the search for funding, but also assume responsibility for family care in contexts of displacement. “They carry the management of the media outlet, the search for funds, and the structural role of domestic caregivers in conditions of displacement,” she explained.
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Changes in exile media
The document records a transformation in the agenda of Nicaraguan media in exile between 2022 and 2026, according to EFE. Five of the seven directors interviewed managed to structure a business plan and diversify content towards feminist journalism, podcasts, civic photojournalism, and multimedia narratives.
These strategies seek to connect with internal audiences in Nicaragua and with diaspora communities, in an attempt to challenge the narrative monopoly of the Ortega-Murillo administration.
The report also called on international donor organizations to design flexible mechanisms that address structural gender inequalities. Recommendations include tailored financing, technical assistance in finance and digital marketing, as well as economic integration programs for displaced professional women. The Cien Por Ciento Noticias channel building remains, to this day, militarily occupied by the Police without any legal explanation. Photo: Oscar Navarrete
The context of the press in Nicaragua
The situation of the press in Nicaragua has shown a sustained deterioration in recent years. According to the Foundation for Freedom of Expression and Democracy, based in Costa Rica, between 2018 and 2026 the Ortega and Murillo government closed at least 56 media outlets, including five that were raided and confiscated, such as La Prensa, Confidencial, 100% Noticias, and La Trinchera de la Noticia.
In addition, at least 309 media workers left the country for security reasons or were exiled since April 2018.
Reporters Without Borders’ 2026 World Press Freedom Index ranks Nicaragua at position 168 out of 180 countries, below Cuba, in 160th place, and Venezuela, in 159th, according to data compiled by EFE.
