We live in tumultuous times. Reactionary right-wing governments have popped up across the world. Online fake news has strengthened a number of damaging false narratives. The global terrorism problem seems to be getting worse with every passing day. To top it all off, humanity continues to fail to tackle the climate change problem, with many experts warning that the situation is so bad it could lead to the collapse of human civilization. In such an environment, an honest and free media is more important than ever. What we find on the other hand, is governments around the world clamping down on press freedom by enacting new laws and attempting to erode the credibility of the media through rhetoric and propaganda.
Some of the tactics used by the enemies of the press are new, such as coordinated online smear campaigns. This was recently seen in Pakistan when a series of malicious hashtag campaigns against three prominent Pakistani journalists emerged as the top three Twitter trends in Pakistan last month. They were accompanied by troll brigades, doctored images and misinformation. Soon, the campaign started targeting other journalists as well.
Other tactics being used against journalists are not so modern. For example, the International Press Institute (IPI) has reported that 55 journalists have been killed since May last year. At least 18 of the deceased were killed for their work Journalists are also thrown in jail, sometimes after being charged with treason.
In Pakistan however, the government has been particularly innovative by attacking media houses’ purse strings. This has been done by selectively stopping state advertising, making it difficult for dissenting news channels and papers to survive at a time when most people are consuming their news online.
However, this is hardly just a local problem. This can be clearly seen by the recent arrest of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. Furthermore, according to the IPI, some 70 cases of arrests of journalists globally were reported in the first quarter of this year.
Gagging the media will only lead to more radicalisation around the world, and make it harder to hold the powerful and influential to account. These are troubling trends, which must be reversed before it is too late. *