TUCSON, Ariz. – Today is United Nations' World Press Freedom Day, and events are planned across the globe. However, journalists and other experts see recent events as more proof that that Americans should consider how to protect their own press freedoms.
Despite constitutional protections, the news media in the United States is under daily attack. Jeannine Relly, a professor at the University of Arizona School of Journalism, says the advent of social media and the current, sharp Red-Blue political divide have created serious challenges to the free flow of information for Americans.
"In the global rankings of press freedom, the U.S. has slowly fallen,” says Relly. “It's been over a couple of years, and some of the reasons are economic – just the fragmentation of media and the lack of sustainability, in some cases."
Relly says a decade ago, the erosion of press freedoms was studied mostly in other countries, as corrupt government officials and others tried to intimidate reporters. And in the extreme, she notes more than 50 journalists worldwide were murdered last year while doing their jobs.
In the U.S., Relly adds that such political slogans as "fake news," "lame-stream media," and President Donald Trump's use of the phrase "enemy of the people," all are designed to strip news organizations of their credibility.
"Encouraging people to not trust journalists is another way of eroding press freedom, in that the institution isn't trusted, and people have animosity and show animosity,” says Relly. “That becomes not a very secure environment to be in."
Relly says as a teacher, she sees journalism students considering a wider range of career opportunities than those graduating just a few years ago.
"What I'm seeing is people coming in and thinking about doing independent work,” says Relly, “launching podcasts or being independent documentary producers. Some of them want to work for NGOs, and some still wanting to work for news organizations."
Dozens of groups are sponsoring World Press Freedom Day events, and PEN America, an advocacy group for freedom of expression, is hosting events across several cities. More information is online at 'pen.org.'
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Experts are saying social media algorithms are radicalizing users and increasing extremism in Arizona and around the country ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
Michael Chertoff, a member of the National Council on Election Integrity, said better protecting data privacy could make the algorithms less destructive, without infringing on free speech.
"I do think we could regulate access to data, uses of data and the application of algorithms to that data without offending the First Amendment," Chertoff contended.
Chertoff pointed out data is one of the most critical ingredients in building algorithms using artificial intelligence. He argued data collection by Big Tech companies should be better regulated, as it is used to send specifically targeted and polarizing messages to consumers. A large majority of Americans said they have little to no trust in companies to use AI responsibly, according to the Pew Research Center.
Farah Pandith, senior adviser for the Anti-Defamation League, noted extremism and radicalization are not decreasing. She suggested the first step to improve the situation is by having government and nongovernment stakeholders acknowledge the severity of the situation and to start having more conversations, which she contended is not happening at the scale it needs to be.
"You're not seeing the commitment as a priority area," Pandith stressed. "That shows up in the funding that is required for NGOs that are doing the first responses to all of this that come up with the creative ways. It doesn't show up in the way in which we can scale solutions that we know."
Pandith added solutions are available and called on social media platforms to assume more responsibility for the inciteful content they display.
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A contentious congressional hearing on Wednesday saw a unanimous push for regulations on social media specifically related to children.
U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley - R-MO - pushed Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to apologize to families of child victims over social media that caused exploitation, harm and death.
The CEOs of Meta, X - formerly Twitter, TikTok, Discord and Snap testified at the hearing. Zuckerberg and Snap's CEO Evan Spiegel gave apologies for the first time, after Hawley put them on the spot.
"Would you like to do so now? Well, they're here, you're on national television," said Hawley. "Would you like now to apologize to the victims who have been harmed by your products? Show them the pictures. Would you like to apologize for what you've done to these good people?"
Zuckerberg turned and stood and faced the audience and said "I'm sorry for everything you have all been through. No one should go through the things that your families have suffered and this is why we invest so much, and we are going to continue doing industrywide efforts to make sure no one has to go through the things your families have had to suffer."
Some victims' families have said although they were a surprise, they didn't think the apologies sounded sincere.
Members of Congress said they hoped to find common ground in an effort to create laws that would make the internet a safer place. Senators including Sen. Jon Ossoff - D-GA - repeatedly asked the social media tycoons to consider the victims and recognize the risks of being online.
"We want to work in a productive, open, honest and collaborative way to pass legislation that will protect American children above all," said Ossoff. "If we don't start with an open, honest, candid, realistic assessment of the issues, we can't do that if you're not willing to acknowledge the internet is a dangerous place for children."
Earlier this week, explicit deep-fake Artificial Intelligence images of pop icon Taylor Swift were also released on X.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre announced that legislation would be the obvious way to remedy this type of offense.
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The use of social media to organize the Jan. 6 insurrection marked a turning point in American political protest, according to a leading media and disinformation scholar in Massachusetts.
The "networked incitement" fueled false claims of a stolen election while rioters coordinated in real time across multiple online platforms.
Joan Donovan, assistant professor of journalism and emerging media studies at Boston University, said the 'MAGA Republican' movement became a weaponized volunteer army directed by tweets from former President Donald Trump.
"The problem here was that social media was weaponized against the voting public to plant so many of these egregious stories," Donovan asserted.
Trump has repeatedly asked his supporters to monitor polling stations and "guard the vote" in the upcoming election. Donovan observed the social media infrastructure to coordinate those efforts is already being set up online.
Donovan pointed out the charging and sentencing documents of more than 400 Jan. 6 defendants reveal the majority wanted to support Trump and prevent what he called a "rigged election."
She is convinced without greater regulation and penalties for the misuse of social media, popular figures will use disinformation to incite political violence.
"These people have learned that the next attempt is going to be much more strategic, to prevent election officials from counting votes and certifying those votes," Donovan explained.
Donovan emphasized it will take what she calls a "whole of society" approach to counter the dangers of disinformation online. She suggested government officials and media outlets can use social media to educate the public about the democratic process. And politicians can ensure transparency of donations to political action committees, which often create media disinformation campaigns.
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