Forbidden Stories is a non-profit organization with the mission "to continue and publish the work of other journalists facing threats, prison, or murder."

[2] Internationally it has been praised by the Columbia Journalism Review,[3] Daily Times,[4] Deutschlandfunk,[5] The Guardian,[6] Le Monde,[7] and RTBF.

[10] The Forbidden Stories venture was envisioned by Laurent Richard, a French investigative journalist and filmmaker[Notes 1] in 2015, after the January 7, 2015, Charlie Hebdo shooting in which 12 people were killed and 11 others were injured—all journalists and cartoonists—by members of terrorist group Al-Qaeda's branch in Yemen.

On October 30, 2017, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and NGO Freedom Voices Network announced the launch of "Forbidden Stories," a secure encrypted online platform[Notes 2] that allows threatened journalists to upload their work and secure their data and information.

[12][13][14][Notes 3] The purpose of "Forbidden Stories" was to "deter would-be attacks on journalists by backing up their work, and to publicize murders and disappearances of colleagues such as Caruana Galizia.