The 2023 World Press Freedom Index report was released on 3 May to mark the 30th World Press Freedom Day. The report, released by the advocacy group Reporters Without Borders (RSF), spotlights the fake content, disinformation and propaganda that continue to pose a serious threat to media freedom around the world. This year, however, they have a new ally: AI.
Coupled with the booming fake content industry, AI, according to the report, is ‘wreaking further havoc on the media world’, both through fake text and increasingly plausible and undetectable visuals, such as those of Donald Trump being stopped by police officers, a comatose Julian Assange in a straitjacket, and Putin kneeling before Xi Jinping, all of which went viral. Referring to digital platforms as ‘quicksand for journalism’, the report also draws attention to how platforms have put the future of journalism in a precarious position, threatening its long-term sustainability.
Moreover, it was concerning, although not shocking, to find that a whopping 70% of the 180 countries and territories assessed for the index have a ‘bad’ environment for journalism, wherein governments and political entities (even some ostensibly democratic ones) are empowered to manipulate the veracity of events, and the ease of publication for fake content is considerably amplified.
The report highlights the stark contrast between the challenges encountered by journalists in Western countries and those in the Global South. In Western nations, including Australia, journalists are predominantly concerned with financial constraints; while in the Global South, physical threats to journalists pose significant impediments to press freedom and the pursuit of public interest journalism.
Australia rose in the index from last year’s 39th position to 27th; however, some important threats to press freedom remain. Journalists and industry bodies are increasingly concerned about the fragility of press freedom and whistle-blower protection in the country. According to Karen Percy, the Media Federal President for the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance, Australia is ‘going backwards’ on press freedom. The increasingly stringent national security legislation, she said, had led to a ‘veil of secrecy’ being drawn over many aspects of governmental operations, and was putting journalists in danger of a prison term ‘just for being in possession of classified documents without even having published or broadcast a story based on them.’
The paradox of press freedom is that the more it’s threatened, the more we need it. This report, and a marked global spike in the number of journalists in jail, has shown that the battle in the pursuit of press freedom and public interest journalism is an ongoing one, not only for the 70% of the countries with a 'bad' environment for journalists, but also for Australia.
Ayesha Jehangir, CMT Postdoctoral Fellow