Journalism under threat from fake content industry - "Reporters Without Borders". Azerbaijan is still among countries where situation is 'very bad'

Baku/03.05.23/Turan: 3 May - On World Press Freedom Day "Reporters Without Borders" published a series of reports and investigations on the situation around the media and journalists worldwide, including the "World Press Freedom Index".

The index assesses the situation in 180 countries in 2023, of which 31 are "very bad", 42 are "bad", 55 are "problematic" and 52 are "good". In other words, the environment for journalism is "bad" in seven of the ten countries.

Note that Azerbaijan ranked 151 this year (last year 152), remaining among the "very bad" countries.

Norway ranks first for the seventh year in a row, with Ireland in second place,

Denmark ranks third.

At the bottom of the index, the last three places are ranked by Vietnam (178),China ( 179) and North Korea (180).

"The World Press Freedom Index shows great variability in situations, major ups and downs and unprecedented changes, such as the rise of Brazil in 18 place and the fall of Senegal in 31 place.

This volatility is the result of increasingly aggressive authorities in many countries, hostility towards journalists and growth in fake news and disinformation, says Christophe Deloire, general secretary of "Reporters Without Borders".

Thus, majority of respondents reported that politicians in their countries often or systematically organise or participate in mass disinformation or propaganda campaigns. Their ability to interfere with content undermines the work of real journalism and weakens its role and influence.

The misinformation industry distributes manipulative content on a huge scale. Since recently, "Artificial Intelligence" has played a significant role in this, with its ability to synthesize content on demand. For instance the fifth version of "Midjourney", an artificial intelligence program, generates high-definition images in response to order and fills social media with believable but fake "photos".

The place of mass misinformation, propaganda and violation of press rights was Russia, which dropped 9 points to 164 place.

The situation deteriorated sharply in Turkey as well, which dropped 16 points to 165 place. Erdogan's administration has stepped up its harassment of journalists ahead of the May 14 elections.

In Iran (177), a violent crackdown on protests, internet shutdowns and harassment of journalists has significantly worsened the situation.

The EU countries remain the easiest for journalists to work in, although in Greece (107) the authorities have stepped up their surveillance of journalists with a spyware programme.

The former Soviet republics were ranked as follows: Moldova - 28, Armenia - 49, Georgia - 77, Ukraine - 79, Kyrgyzstan - 122, Kazakhstan - 134, Uzbekistan - 137, Tajikistan -153 and Turkmenistan - 176.

It ought to be noted that the Global Press Freedom Index is compiled according to the methodology of a group of media experts and journalists from different countries. The methodology takes into account the degree of press freedom and in particular "the ability of journalists to select, produce and disseminate news, as well as the presence of political, economic, legal, physical and psychological pressure on them. The number of abuses against journalists and media outlets is also taken into account. -02B-