Surveillance,censorship, fake news, or increased physical danger. Journalism has a fight on its hands to continue speaking truth to power
• Thomas Hughes is executive director of Article 19,which launches a report nowadays on press freedomWe could reasonably have expected the digital revolution to have ushered in the heyday of media freedom. The miniaturisation of technology and spread of mobile connectivity have massively increased our ability to share, interact with, and access information.
However,this has been matched by censorship in the name of national security and countering extremism, demands for protection against offensive speech and misinformation, and as well as unprecedented surveillance and collection of our data. A new report by Article 19 maps this trend,showing that media freedom is at its lowest level since 2006, with a specific increase in the government censorship of those who expose corruption and abuse.
The control that a few internet companies now exert over how we search and find information is concerning Related: A mission for journalism in a time of crisis Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com