World Press Freedom Day

The World Press Freedom Day 2026 Conference will happen at a time when the boundaries between journalism, technology, civic space, and human rights are increasingly intertwined. It will enable cross-fertilization of ideas, solutions and approaches – including gender-responsive perspectives – between journalists, digital rights advocates, technologists, policy makers, regulators, civil society organizations, academia, researchers, educators, youth leaders and content creators. This convergence offers a platform to move beyond diagnosis toward coordinated action, aligning journalism, technology (including AI) , and human rights actors around practical ways to strengthen information ecosystems for the future. Find the Agenda programme of the World Press Freedom Day Conference in Lusaka on 4-5 May.

The brief titled Strengthening Information Integrity: Advertising, Artificial Intelligence and the Global Information Crisis highlights several growing risks . AI is accelerating the spread of disinformation , hate speech and polarising content, while advertising revenue continues to fund online material – regardless of its quality or accuracy. At the same time, a lack of transparency in how AI-driven advertising systems work is raising concerns about fraud and inefficiency. The rise of AI-generated content also threatens the viability of independent journalism , the report notes, warning that declining trust in digital environments is already undermining the effectiveness of ad campaigns . The brief stresses that these are not only societal concerns but direct business risks . As audiences lose trust in the platforms where ads appear , engagement drops and returns on investment decline. “Brands are under pressure to move fast on AI, but doing so without guardrails risks undermini...

What impact does disinformation have? What are the alternatives to face it through public policies? Concrete examples will be given and tangible results will be presented in this session bellow.

Source protection is essential to ensure not only free journalism but also that citizens and whistleblowers can share information . How can Source protection be strengthened? You will find out during this session bellow.  Don't miss it! It starts at 2 PM CET,

 Media freedom in Europe continued to face major challenges in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During this twelvemonth reporting period, the MapMF platform documented 166 different media freedom violations linked in some way to COVID-19. These involved attacks on 252 different persons or entities in 19 countries. Many of these alerts involved phys‐ ical and online attacks on journalists reporting on anti-vaccine and anti-lockdown protests across Europe. Sixteen cases were recorded which involved serious attacks on journalists or media workers who then required medical treatment. Overall, more than a quarter of all alerts (26.5%) recorded during 2021 were re‐lated to the pandemic, underscoring the persistent threats that the pandemic faces to independent journalism. The re‐ spective COVID-19 related alerts can be viewed here. These attacks on the free press came in many forms. Nearly one in three incidents (31.9% and 53 alerts) involved physical at‐ tacks, including 16 incidents ...

 Journalism can be exercised by a wide range of actors, including bloggers and others. In addition to protecting the safety and security of journalists, States have an obligation to create an enabling environment for free and independent journalism . Strong protections for journalists’ sources and whistleblowers are often a precondition for a range of journalistic activities, and critical to the public’s right to know .