11 Nov 2024 Standing up to tyranny, protecting press freedom

The disastrous outcome of the US presidential election – for global peace, and within the USA for women’s rights, immigration, the environment, gun laws and LGBTQ+ rights – is also disastrous for press freedom. Misinformation and disinformation will become even more overt and officially sanctioned.

Writing in The Guardian, US media columnist Margaret Sullivan says Trump “poses a clear threat to journalists, to news organisations and to press freedom in the US and around the world.” She points out that Kash Patel, an American attorney, government official in the first Trump administration and a potential pick for FBI director or attorney general, has said: “We’re going to come after people in the media.” And Project 2025, the conservative 900-page policy “wish list”, includes plans to make it easier to seize journalists’ emails and phone records.

Identifying the main threats posed by a second Trump administration, The Guardian (6 November 2024) says: “In his first term and as a candidate, Trump has consistently attacked the mainstream press and used conservative media for his political purposes… There’s nothing to suggest a re-elected Trump would tone down his aggression.”

The Columbia Journalism Review (6 November 2024) agrees: “Since he entered politics, a decade ago, Donald Trump has castigated journalists for their skepticism and independence, calling the media ‘the enemy of the people’, a ‘threat to democracy’, ‘fake’, and ‘crooked bastards’ whom he vows to prosecute. Now that he has secured a second term, he will be free to make good on his promises.”

Press and media freedom underpin democracy and uphold human rights. At national, regional and local levels, the independent press is the public’s watchdog, activist, and guardian. As the eyes and ears of the public, journalists must be able to report on matters of public interest without fear of arrest or other forms of interference.

Press and media freedom are a fundamental part of the communication rights that guarantee the individual’s and the community’s ability to speak up in public and to be listened to. Communication rights expand freedom of opinion and expression to claim spaces and resources in the public sphere that enable everyone to engage in transparent, informed, and democratic debate.

Recent events in Mexico, Russia, and Gaza have shown that, when censoring and silencing journalists become policy, disappearance and murder are not far behind. For this reason, as well as for democratic accountability, ordinary people everywhere have a duty to defend the communication rights of individuals and communities and the freedom of the independent press.

In practical terms, this means we must continue to speak out – especially on social media – to counter disinformation and misinformation, to be voices that respect facts, human dignity, and human rights. And it means supporting trusted news sources financially, if possible, especially in the face of increasing pressure and threats. We must promote critical media literacy at all levels so that everyone can better sift fact from fiction.

As Robert Reich writes in The Guardian (6 November 2024), “A free nation protects political dissent. A democracy needs people willing to stand up to tyranny. How will we conduct this resistance? By organizing our communities. By fighting through the courts. By arguing our cause through the media.”

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