The international human rights lawyer, 41, spoke on a U.N. panel, highlighting the dangers facing journalists around the world, especially in complicated political climates.“Our research targets laws being used every day to punish journalists for their work,” Clooney said of her work. “Laws like criminal libel, vague or overboard hate speech laws, so-called fake news laws, and laws that muzzle the media by imposing arbitrary conditions on ownership, accreditation and funding.” Clooney then criticised leaders like President Donald Trump, who often blasts multiple media outlets for “fake news” and unfair coverage. “Such laws are part of a rising drumbeat of legal assault on journalists and they are particularly open to abuse when senior officials vilify the media, creating a toxic environment in which individual journalists are incredibly vulnerable to attack,” Clooney said. In July, she seemingly took aim at Trump while speaking at the Global Conference for Media Freedom in London. In that speech, she referenced the fourth president of the U.S., James Madison, who emphasised the importance of the free press early on in the nation’s history. “Today, the country of James Madison has a leader who vilifies the media, making honest journalists all over the world more vulnerable to abuse,” Clooney said at the time.