Media protections and the harm of false narratives

Along with many other media related organisations, CMT notes with sadness the assassination attempt this week on Salman Rushdie in New York. Rushdie, who has lived for 30 years under the threat of a fatwa issued by the former Iranian Supreme leader, the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, 
was about to speak on media freedom and freedom of speech when he was attacked.

That Rushdie’s life remains at risk highlights the importance of media freedom, imperilled in Afghanistan which this week marked one year of rule by the Taliban which seized power in Kabul after the US withdrew from the country. Ayesha Jehangir takes a look at the state of media in Afghanistan after a year in which the Taliban has diminished the ability of local reporters to work without fear.

Also this week, Michael Davis looks at whether there are any protections available to us outside of disinformation regulation, after the recent US defamation verdict against misinformation monger, Alex Jones. Derek is looking at the emergence in the last week of not one but two ways of protecting online intermediaries, especially search engines, from liability under defamation law. Stevie Zhang dives into some of the false narratives around the monkeypox virus. And finally, I talk to Meta’s Josh Machin about what news publishers here can expect following the company's decision in the US to walk away from news content. 

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Monica, Attard CMT Co-Director