press freedom “drowned” in disinformation

Political propaganda, economic manipulation, false content generated by artificial intelligence… Disinformation in the broad sense is a major threat to press freedom in the world, alarmed on Wednesday May 3 Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in its 21st annual ranking.

Without change, the highest rated country is Norway and the lowest is North Korea. France is 24th and gains two places. Overall, the conditions for practicing journalism are poor in 7 out of 10 countries. This 2023 edition highlights in particular the effects of misinformation. In the ranking, the most significant drops are observed in Peru (110th, -33 places), Senegal (104th, -31 places), Haiti (99th, -29) or Tunisia (121st, -27). Conversely, Brazil (92nd) moved up 18 places after the departure of former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, beaten by Lula in the elections at the end of October.

Digital platforms singled out

In two thirds of the 180 countries assessed, the specialists who contribute to the development of the ranking “indicate the involvement of political actors” in “massive disinformation or propaganda campaigns”, according to RSF. This is the case of Russia, India, China or Mali.

More broadly, this ranking “sheds light on the dazzling effects of the simulacrum industry in the digital ecosystem”. “It is the industry that makes it possible to produce disinformation, distribute it or amplify it”, explains to AFP Christophe Deloire, secretary general of the NGO. This is, according to him, the case of “leaders of digital platforms who don’t care about distributing propaganda or false information”and which “the typical example” East “Twitter owner Elon Musk”. “Reliable information is drowned in a deluge of misinformation”Judge Deloire, according to whom “we perceive less and less the differences between the real and the artificial, the true and the false”.