THE DIGITAL SIEGE.



The latest UNESCO World Trends Report Insights discussion paper “Threats that Silence: Trends in the Safety of Journalists” highlights how surveillance and hacking are compromising journalism. This was vividly shown in exposés by investigative journalists and researchers, giving rise to UN human rights experts calling for a temporary global moratorium on the sale and transfer of surveillance technology.




 The growing sophistication and undetectability of mal- and spyware and their increasing use against journalists and human rights defenders by state and non-state actors, endanger free and independent journalism. 

Surveillance can expose information gathered by journalists including from whistle-blowers, and violates the principle of source protection, which is universally considered a prerequisite for freedom of the media and is enshrined in UN Resolutions. 





Surveillance may also harm the safety of journalists by disclosing sensitive private information which could be used for arbitrary judicial harassment or attack. The UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression presented in May 2019 findings and concerns on surveillance and human rights, noting that “surveillance of individuals – often journalists, activists, opposition figures, critics and others exercising their right to freedom of expression – has been shown to lead to arbitrary detention, sometimes to torture and possibly to extrajudicial killings”. 


Between 2011 and 2021, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) recorded dozens of incidents of journalists being targeted by spyware. 



This finding was supported by investigative journalism and fact-checking organizations uncovering the fact that hundreds of journalists had been selected as targets. 

AI-powered surveillance of journalists’ movements, and trolling of journalists powered by data-mining and automated attacks, also threaten the free exercise of journalism. Reduced costs means that illegitimate surveillance operations undertaken by governmental or private actors can be broader, disproportionate, more invasive and longer lasting than ever before, without journalists or their sources being aware of them or being able to defend themselves. 




Privacy is a pre-requisite for journalists to do their work and ensuring our access to fact-based and reliable information. It is a necessity if they are to communicate freely with sources, receive confidential information, investigate corruption, and guarantee the safety of themselves and their sources.




Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Agenda Programme of the World Press Freedom Day 2025.

Core International Standards.

Honoring Guillermo Cano Isaza, a colombian journalist assassinated in front of his Newspaper Office "EL TELESPECTATOR" in 1986.