Journalists are increasingly coming under fire as the fourth anniversary of the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi approaches. Hatred fueled by propaganda has created a hostile environment for journalists throughout the world. With rising accusations made by reporters against tyrannical governments in the Middle East and Asia, journalists play a vital role in raising awareness on important issues, and contributing to conversations that promote democracy and human rights.
The U.S. has gained a reputation of being the land of the free, where freedom of speech and press are protected in the First Amendment, and cornerstones of democracy. Yet, journalists are harassed or worse daily for expressing opinions and distributing material to the public. Social media has served not only as a platform to disseminate information to wider audiences, but has also increased the threats and torments that journalists face.
Just last year, the Associated Press fired Emily Wilder, a young reporter who used Twitter to express her thoughts on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. After receiving being spammed with backlash and abuse, she was removed from her post. And while journalists are not the only ones who face digital attacks on social media, they are seen as more obvious and vulnerable targets due to their public status.
The threats to journalism, then, is not only violence occurring in seemingly distant countries. Violence against reporters occurs in domestic and international domains alike. Even with preventative actions taken by social media platforms, such as reporting or blocking users, the masses of people ready to harass journalists outweigh the capabilities of simple report functions designed for small-scale repairs.
Rana Ayyub, Indian journalist and Washington Post columnist, recently wrote of her experience being harassed on social media after publishing critical articles on India’s right-wing and its supporters. She wrote that “what [she] witnessed during the last two weeks was a combined hatred, egged on by two ruling politicians in countries considered among the most dangerous for journalists.”
With politicians encouraging online users to digitally and physically attack journalists, the question surrounding this issue becomes one about the overarching threat to democracy looming over the U.S. Ayyub’s experiences are one of hundreds, if not thousands, of recollections that journalists throughout the world go through. With unfounded accusations of “fake news” and “radical opinions”, the value of journalists and articles are diminished, and could lead to disastrous consequences for the future of speech, information, and democracy.
This blog post is part of the CIMA law group blog. If you are located in Arizona and are seeking legal services, CIMA law group specializes in Immigration law, Criminal Defense, Personal Injury, and Government Relations.
CIMA Law Group Blog 