CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF PRESS FREEDOM IN UNITED NATIONS

This article is written by Anushka Bagri of 3^rd Year of Banasthali Vidyapith.

Abstract

Press Freedom being fourth pillar of democracy is an important concept to study as to ensure that government officials are held accountable for their acts, that the public has access to information concerning government policies, decisions, and activities, and that the public is informed about these matters, a free and independent media is crucial and this article deals with Critical Analysis of Press Freedom in United Nations, starting with the general introduction of United Nations and its History, further proceeds to meaning of Press Freedom and what United Nation Foundation states about it and then this Article deals with the Challenges to Press Freedom and Action taken by United Nations to defeat these challenges.

KEYWORDS- United Nations, Press Freedom, Human Rights, Democracy, Safety of Media Persons

1. United Nations

A multinational organisation called the United Nations was established in 1945. The goals and tenets outlined in its founding Charter serve as the foundation for the UN, which currently has 193 Member States.

Over time, the UN has changed to keep up with a world that is changing quickly.

One thing, however, has not changed: it continues to be the only location on Earth where representatives from every country may come together to discuss issues of global concern and come up with answers that will benefit all of humanity.

2. History of United Nations Foundation

The International Peace Conference was held in The Hague in 1899 to develop strategies for resolving conflicts amicably, averting war, and codifying war laws.

It created the Permanent Court of Arbitration and ratified the Convention for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes, whose operations started in 1902. The International Court of Justice of the UN was modelled after this court.

The League of Nations, which was created in 1919 as part of the Treaty of Versailles “to promote international cooperation and to achieve peace and security,” was the organisation that predated the United Nations. It was developed in the context of the First World War.

The term “United Nations” was first used by American President Franklin D. Roosevelt. A declaration known as The Declaration by the United Nations was signed by 26 countries in 1942, committing their governments to continue fighting with one another against the Axis Powers (the Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis) and forbidding them from forging their own peace.

3. Press Freedom

A key sign of democracy is the freedom of the press to report on issues of public concern. A free press can inform citizens of the accomplishments and shortcomings of their leaders, communicate the needs and preferences of the people to the government, and act as a forum for the open exchange of ideas. These crucial processes fail when media freedom is constrained, which results in bad decisions and negative effects for both leaders and public.

The press gives a variety of voices a platform to be heard. It serves as the public’s watchdog, activist, and protector at the local, state, and federal levels in addition to serving as an educator, entertainer, and current historian. Any democracy must be built on the foundation of press freedom. As the public’s eyes and ears, journalists must be free to report on topics of public concern without worrying about being detained or subjected to other types of interference.

4. View of United Nations on Press Freedom

Press freedom is the cornerstone of democracy and fairness.  It provides information that any of us can use to form opinions and challenge authority.  And as the year’s theme serves as a reminder, press freedom serves as the very foundation of human rights.

A primary objective is ensuring media freedom everywhere. In both young and ancient democracies, pluralistic, independent media are essential to good governance.

Free media

• can uphold openness, responsibility, and the rule of law;
• encourage participation in political and public discourse; and
• support the battle against poverty

An autonomous media sector derives its strength from the community it serves and, in turn, empowers that community to participate fully in the democratic process.

5. Importance of Press Freedom

5.1 A Free Press fights for the truth

Press freedom is important because it allows for the discovery of the truth. Journalists are taught to evaluate and explain a wide range of topics, many of which are highly complex. The typical individual would know very little to nothing about what is happening around them if there were no newspapers, radio programmes, blogs, etc. The majority of individuals lack the time and resources to research topics and events that have an impact on them and their communities. Therein lies the role of journalists. The greatest journalists are equipped with abilities like investigation and critical thinking, and they know what questions to ask, what leads to follow, and how to fact-check. A free press needs fact-checking to function properly. The truth will remain hidden if the press is unable to fact-check in a secure and efficient manner.

5.2 A Free Press holds Power accountable

Governments are one group that stands to gain from the facts remaining a secret. Being a power watchdog is one of the free press’s primary responsibilities. Between common people and strong organisations, there is a press. If the press is not independent and is instead a tool of those in authority, it only acts as a continuation of their influence. Without press freedom, the government would not provide legal protection for journalists who attempt to report the truth when doing so poses a threat to the state. The inevitable result of this is censorship and suppression. Even if a state set itself the objective of being more truthful and open, they would still need to fulfil some sort of agenda. A free press is necessary to expose abuses of power in cases of corruption and human rights violations.

5.3 A Free Press informs voters and strengthen democracy

The third justification for press freedom’s significance is that it facilitates informed voting. Only when voters are as well-informed as possible do democracies flourish. People who are knowledgeable are more likely to comprehend the current problems and which leaders and policies will best serve their interests. The media is the institution that informs through dissecting information, fostering debate, and fact-checking. Voters can be more informed the more freedom the press has. Voters would be at the whim of politicians and special interest groups that wish to win elections and advance particular legislation without this freedom. Voters couldn’t possibly complete all of their work independently, and it would take a lot of time. Strong media simplifies the process and provides insightful information.

6. Challenges to Press Freedom

The freedom of the press is being attacked everywhere in the world.  Disinformation and hate speech that attempts to conflate the concepts of science and conspiracy pose a threat to the truth. Furthering censorship and endangering freedom of expression are the growing concentration of the media business into the hands of a select few, the financial failure of a large number of independent news organisations, and a rise in national laws and regulations that inhibit journalists. In the meantime, journalists and media professionals face direct threats both online and offline as they perform their essential duties.  They are frequently threatened, detained, and locked up.  

As per the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization Report of 2021/2022.

Over the past five years, there has been an increase in behaviours that endanger freedom of expression and internet accessibility.

          Online news sources have been restricted, reporters have been surveilled, and media websites have been compromised. According to data gathered by Access Now, the number of distinct cases of internet outages peaked in 2019 at 213 events. In order to filter and limit internet traffic, several governments are also making investments. The number of requests from the authorities to remove content from major internet sites has risen over the last five years.

7. United Nations Plan of Action on Safety of Journalists

The UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity addresses the fundamental aspects of prevention, protection, and prosecution with the goal of fostering a free and safe environment for journalists and media professionals around the world, strengthening peace, democracy, and sustainable development.

The Plan calls for a comprehensive and coalition-based implementation strategy. Six areas are covered by it: Raising Awareness, Standard Setting and Policy making, Capacity building, Research and Coalition Building.

7.1 Raising Awareness

The UN Plan of Action has as one of its main objectives educating the public about the value of independent, professional media and informing significant stakeholders and partners of this. UNESCO, in collaboration with Member States and other UN agencies, organises International Days such as World Press Freedom Day on May 3rd and the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists on November 2nd.

These serve as discussion, analysis, and development tools for both international and local projects concerning press freedom, journalist safety, and the issue of impunity.

7.2 Standard Setting and Policy making

The growing acknowledgement at the regional and national levels of the necessity of safeguarding journalists’ safety requires a broad framework that may serve as a reference to establish mechanisms entrusted with protecting the right to free expression. The formation of global standards from which regional and national programmes can be inspired is a crucial part of the UN Plan of Action.

Based on resolutions from the UN, at least 50 nations have established or improved National Safety Mechanisms for the defence of, prevention of, and prosecution of attacks against journalists. Because they involve a variety of stakeholders—including members of the government, the civil society, law enforcement officials, and media organizations—many of these systems are successful.

7.3 Monitoring and Reporting

To promote good and long-lasting change, monitoring and data reporting on the state of press freedom and the safety of journalists around the world are essential. They also enable additional research into certain concerns, such as assaults on journalists or even their death. The databases make it possible to assess the level of risk to journalists in a nation by creating exact criteria like nationality, gender, type of media, or job status.

Since 1993, the UN has built a number of databases to track the status of press freedom on a national and international level because it is one of the main focuses of the UN Plan of Action. Some of them, like the UNESCO Observatory on Killed Journalists, which was established in 2018, offer specific information, such documentation from Member States on the progress of the judicial processes, which enables insights into levels of impunity per-country.

7.4 Capacity Building

The UN Plan of Action tries to influence local actors, such as journalists, security forces, and the courts, through capacity development trainings in addition to directing international, national, and local policies. These activities also include aiding national governments in creating and enacting legal frameworks supportive of freedom of expression and freedom of information.

UNESCO has agreements in place with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Court of Justice, the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the IberoAmerican Judicial Summit to achieve this purpose. These initiatives, among others, have reinforced laws relating to information access, journalist safety, and ending the impunity for crimes against journalists.

7.5 Research

To find specific solutions and recommendations, it is necessary to thoroughly analyse concerns relating to the safety of journalists.  The modern digital era in particular opens up new potential for media professionals while simultaneously posing new risks to them, particularly for female journalists.

Women journalists are targets of new attacks and defamation, including trolling, cyberstalking, threats of rape, online harassment, and hacking. These assaults frequently use rhetoric that is sexual or sexist and are more violent.

The UN Plan of Action pledges support for scholarly investigation on these issues and more. As an illustration, in order to actively encourage more research in this field, UNESCO has been hosting an annual academic conference on journalist safety since 2016.

7.6 Coalition Building

There are many different layers of action involved in creating a safe workplace for journalists. The complex issues cannot be solved on an individual basis. As a result, the UN collaborated with the media, NGOs, academic institutions, and governments to create the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity. To promote communication between the various stakeholders and complementarity between their actions, this coalition-based structure necessitates information exchange. Regional and sub-regional coalitions, such the African interregional forum conducted at the UN Economic Commission of Africa, as well as global level coalitions, like the Coalition on Safety of Journalists (CSO), coordinate it. More than 30 nations now have the UN Plan of Action in place.

Conclusion

Here comes to the end of this article and so far, you would have gathered basic information about press freedom in united nations and the challenges faced by the media persons. As the challenges or threats to journalist is increasing and it directly hammpers freedom of press consequently that harms a democratic country as people will not be able to gather correct or basic information they are entitled to get. So, to deal with this issue united nations should work more on it by directly engaging with public and public too has duty to be aware about their rights if any of their right is violated, they should raise their voice. More effective plans should be raised by United Nations Organization and it should keep its eyes on proper implementation of those plans.

References

1. United Nations, https://www.un.org/en/about-us, last seen on 19/06/2023.

2. Why Is Freedom Of The Press Important in a Democracy?, Human Rights Career, https://www.humanrightscareers.com/issues/why-is-freedom-of-the-press-important-in-a-democracy/, last seen on 21/06//2023.

3. World Press Freedom Day, United Nations, https://www.un.org/en/observances/press-freedom-day, last seen on 21/06/2023.

4. Threats to freedom of press: Violence, disinformation & censorship, 2023, UNESCO, https://www.unesco.org/en/threats-freedom-press-violence-disinformation-censorship, last seen on 23/06/2023

5.World Press Freedom Index 2023, DrishtiIas, https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/world-press-freedom-index-2023, last seen on 23/06/2023.

6. UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity, United Nations, https://www.ohchr.org/en/safety-of-journalists/un-plan-action-safety-journalists-and-issue-impunity, last seen on 23/06/2023.