Simone Benazzo is a PhD student in political science and a teaching assistant at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB). His research focuses on journalistic resistance in autocratic contexts. He is also a member of the Media and Journalism Research Centre (MJRC). He has a weekly column, “Illiberalia” (Linkiesta, Italy) on the threats to media freedom in Europe. Simone previously worked as a freelance journalist, mainly covering the Western Balkans for Italian and European media outlets. He holds an MA in International Relations from the University of Turin and an MA in European Studies from the College of Europe.