2023-05-03 16:43:27
First modification:
Of the 180 countries evaluated by the NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF), in 118 (that is, two thirds of the total) the involvement of political actors in systematic campaigns of massive disinformation stands out as a major obstacle to the free exercise of journalism. There is a political and technological stability that makes it increasingly difficult to differentiate the true from the false, the real from the artificial, explains Artur Romeu, director for Latin America at RSF.
The world classification that the NGO released this Wednesday, May 3, on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, reveals that in seven out of ten countries the conditions for practicing journalism are bad and satisfactory in only three out of ten .
RFI: How does this Factory of deception and simulation operate from the exercise of power?
There is political and technological instability that makes it more difficult to differentiate between what is true and what is false, what is real and what is artificial. The border between facts and artifacts is increasingly difficult to understand and is very well manipulated by political actors in various parts of the world. It is not a trend that we identify in an isolated country. It seems important to us to highlight the impact that this deception industry has on journalistic practice, freedom of the press and the daily life of journalists and the media. And it seems to me that the important thing is to mention precisely the phenomenon. In other words, disinformation and propaganda are used, in such a way that they are almost always connected with a strategy of violence against journalists on social networks.
It is becoming normal for political leaders to try to tighten their control over public discourse. That is the strategy: to manipulate – with the use of technology and through political movements of its political bases – the truth and the alternative facts, as he once told Donald Trump, to obtain greater control over the public debate because they no longer you have to answer questions from the press
RFI: These are strategies that presidents like Donald Trump or Bolsonaro also resorted to.
Exactly. It is interesting to highlight the technological challenges, that is, the artificial intelligence tools and also the way in which the algorithms of social networks are being used, among other strategies typical of the technological development of our time to more easily manipulate the truth, such as deep fake, which make it so difficult for an image to be recognized as true or false. The border between the real and the false is increasingly difficult to observe, not only due to political practices, which we have already seen in recent years, but also with the new social challenges that technology or the development of technology brings.
RFI: I imagine that this can also be associated with the fact that in social networks it is not required to verify sources…
One of the great challenges of our time is how to address the issue of space, information and democracy with the advent of social networks and other technological tools. In less than a generation there has been a huge change in the way journalistic information is produced, circulated and consumed. And so to some extent it is natural that this type of distrust of the media or the challenges that are imposed in terms of media literacy, to the point that today we can talk about media literacy, about how to understand, receive, read, critically perceive information journalistic What is the responsibility of the platforms in terms of guaranteeing greater transparency about their functions or their algorithms, about the responsibility of the contents. In other words, there is no single and easy answer and it is rather the great challenge of our time.
RFI: According to the report, in seven out of ten countries journalism is carried out under poor conditions and only in three out of ten is it carried out satisfactorily. Where is Latin America on this spectrum?
There is a very strong trend in Latin America that, unfortunately, has to do with the issue of violence. In 2022, half of the journalists murdered in the world were murdered in Latin America, especially in Mexico, but also – and for the first time in such a high number – in Haiti. There were also murders of journalists in Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Central America, Honduras. In several Latin American countries it is possible to count and identify these murders, which are rather the tip of the iceberg in the execution of the chain of violence against the press, involving physical attacks, threats, disinformation campaigns, hate, abusive legal proceedings.
RFI: Reporters Without Borders is very insistent on the link between political instability and problems with press freedom. And, in addition to violence, Latin America in 2022 shone for its political instability.
I think the biggest drop in the Reporters Without Borders ranking on the continent is Peru. Especially since the removal of President Pedro Castillo last December. Then there was a wave of popular demonstrations throughout the country that was harshly repressed and this has created distrust on the part of Peruvian society towards democratic institutions, but also towards the role of the press and above all a press that is perceived by the population as an ally of the political and economic elites of the Andean country. The same thing happened in Haiti, also associated with a scenario of very great political instability since the assassination of the former president in 2021.
RFI: But the continent shows surprises in this assessment. Costa Rica, which was the best ranked in press freedom, dropped from eighth to 23rd place, and Brazil, on the other hand, climbed to a good place in this ranking.
Perhaps the big surprise in Latin America is Brazil, the country that had the highest ranking in 2023 by Reporters Without Borders. This increase has nothing to do with what 2022 was like in Brazil for the press, because it was a super difficult year, an electoral year, a lot of misinformation, a lot of polarization, many cases of violence against the press, the murder of the British journalist Dawn Phillips, a media contributor, and another blogger were also killed last year.
It has to do with the alternation of power. The Bolsonaro government, characterized as a nightmare for the press in the last four years, comes to an end in the October 30 elections, and then there is an expectation of a return to normality in relations between power, between the government and the press. Precisely the alternation of power that had positive effects in Brazil, had the opposite effect in Costa Rica. In other words, the arrival of the new president in Costa Rica, who is more hostile to the press, caused the country to fall in the ranking. He is in position 23, he is down 15 positions, but still very well ranked. It is a country where press freedom is highly respected in the Americas.
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