News
UNESCO celebrates the World Press Freedom Day
UNESCO New Delhi celebrated the World Press Freedom Day on 3 May 2023, in collaboration with the Consulate General of France in Mumbai at the Mumbai Press Club. The theme of the event was 鈥Shaping a Future of Rights, Freedom of expression as a driver for all other human rights鈥.
The hybrid event was attended by over 500 participants including journalists, academia, and media fraternity. The event served as a platform for multi-cultural exchanges of voices from South-Asia. A rich and informative panel discussion with experts from South Asia highlighted the challenges of the media and what steps are being taken by the governments to promote access to information and protection of human rights.
The South Asia Press Freedom Report, produced by the International Federation of Journalists was also released at the event.
The only security of all is in a free press. The force of public opinion cannot be resisted when permitted freely to be expressed鈥. The minute we compromise on freedom of expression we let it encroach, by those who won鈥檛 allow free press. Free press and human rights are closely intertwined, without one the other cannot exist.
Freedom of the press is the cornerstone of democratic society. Without a debate of ideas, without verified facts, without diversity of perspectives, democracy is a shadow of itself; and World Press Freedom Day was established to remind us of this.
The freedom of media and safety of journalist is under an increasing attack and hence if our freedom is reduced, how does it expand to other human rights, and how do we safeguard those human rights is a debatable question.
The challenges related to growth and sustainability of media has increased immensely and with the developments and advancements made in the field of AI, for example the use of ChatGPT, the threat to journalism with regards to the source of information has raised concerns related to spread of fake news, disinformation, and misinformation. The governments are facing challenges with the increase in the usage AI and digital media.
Freedom of expression and access to information is a human right and journalists and media play a fundamental role in creating space for voices to be heard and ideas to be shared and debated. An increase in the social, political and cultural conflicts globally, has contributed towards the violation of human rights and threat to life for several civilians.
In 1993, the UN General Assembly proclaimed 3 May as World Press Freedom Day. This proclamation marked the beginning of substantial progress towards enabling a free press and freedom of expression around the world 鈥 with the proliferation of independent media in many countries and the rise of digital technologies enabling the free flow of information online.
