Attacks through digital medium pose new threat to press freedom

The umbrella organisation of Nepali journalists claimed that 2022 was very challenging in terms of freedom of the press and expression in Nepal.

"The new threat to press freedom has been added, as new means have been adopted to curb freedom of the press and expression, with the advancement of new technology," a press note issued by the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) reads.

People or groups disagreeing with the news and views have started systemetically attacking media organisations and individual journalists through new technology, it further reads, adding that it has posed more challenges to the journalists' safety.

“Unlike previous years, media and journalists were attacked through digital means this year," the press note signed by general secretary of the FNJ Roshan Puri adds. "Acts including gaining unauthorised access to the content management system (CMS) of online media, organising unfollow campaigns, threatening journalists through social media platforms, attempting to shut down or hack social media accounts increased this year."

Stating that new media-related laws promulgated by the federal, state and local governments have also posed challenges to the press freedom that is guaranteed by the constitution, the FNJ said, "Rather than promoting freedom of the press and expression, these laws are bent on curbing the Constitutional rights."

According to the FNJ, a total of 132 male and 18 female journalists and six media organisations were affected by such incidents but the number of press freedom violation incidents has come down compared to the past year. In 2021, some 62 incidents of violation of press freedom were recorded while 190 journalists and four media organisations were affected.

The FNJ has recorded 53 incidents of press freedom violation this year. Threat to the free press will eventually lead to rise in bad governance fuelled by corruption, and the country will have to suffer as the cost of doing business will increase hampering new investments.

Some 95 per cent Nepali internet users exposed to disinformation: CMR-Nepal Survey

 Most Nepali internet users are exposed to disinformation, a survey by the Center for Media Research – Nepal (CMR-Nepal) revealed.

The survey results show that 95.5 per cent of internet users receive disinformation, largely through social media sites such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. Nepal Twitter Users Survey 2019 was conducted by CMR-Nepal in November 2019 and results are based on 542 valid responses.

“The results have some fascinating, and probably not so surprising, results,” says CMR-Nepal chairperson Rishikesh Dahal. “This is very concerning as almost all internet users are exposed to some kind of disinformation,” he said, adding that it shows there is an urgent need for the stakeholders to devise an effective and multi-layered plan to help citizens distinguish disinformation from valid information.

A huge majority of the respondents, some 95.5 per cent, said they have seen disinformation online in the last seven days. Those who had not seen disinformation online in a week were just a handful.

And, for most of Nepalis, the main platform where they believe say saw disinformation is YouTube. A total of 85.6 per cent said they saw disinformation on YouTube. This validates claims that ‘YouTubers’ are not only sensationalising issues but also feeding misguided and fake information to garner more views, thereby earn more.

Facebook and Twitter are not far behind as more than two-thirds said they also saw disinformation on Facebook and more than half saw disinformation on Twitter. Only 17 per cent saw the disinformation on other websites, many of them stating websites like news websites, and very few, less than half-a-percent saw it in newspapers, the survey reads, adding that there could be a trust factor playing in as people tend to trust newspapers more and probably believe what they see on newspaper are true. 

“In Nepal’s context, many surveys conducted by various organizations in past decade showed mainstream media as most trustworthy institution, up to 90 per cent public ranking media as trustworthy institution,” says Tilak Pathak, who studies public trust on media.

“It’s not that media does not make mistake,” he said, adding that they do make mistake, but they also correct errors and apologize to the public, thus keeping in the public trust. “Therefore, even when there is disinformation in mainstream media, the general public trust it and may have not identified them as disinformation.”

The respondents were also asked whether disinformation is already a problem or will be a problem for our society. More than two-third (some 73.6 per cent) Twitter users believe that disinformation is already a problem for our society and politics, whereas a little more than 12 per cent think it will create problems in the future and further 11 per cent think it may already have been a problem. “In total, 96.5 percent of them think disinformation is or will be a problem for our society.”

Only a very few, some 1.6 per cent, believe it not a problem now and 1.1 per cent believe it will not create a problem in the future. Rest either did not reply to the question or blamed mainstream media for disinformation, the survey revealed, adding that most Nepali Twitter users (some 86.5 per cent) said they are concerned about fake news, misinformation, and disinformation online. “Only five per cent said they are not concerned while 8.5 per cent were neutral.”

Most Twitter users put media and government as the most responsible agencies to tackle disinformation online. About 40 per cent of all respondents put media on the most responsible side whereas 38 percent put the government on the most responsible side. About 32 per cent considered users as most responsible, whereas 30 per cent considered platforms as most responsible.

Those considering civil society as most responsible to tackle disinformation online were 22.5 per cent. Some 9 per cent, considered there are other agencies most responsible. Those also choosing others listed educational institutions, influencers, and fact-checkers.

“Fact-checking initiatives are very important in the infodemic era, but equally important are efforts from government, political parties, media, civil society, and society’s opinion leaders to spread critical thinking and information literacy among the citizens,” said according to the editor of NepalFactCheck.org, an initiative of CMR-Nepal, Umesh Shrestha.

Disinformation is set to pose a big threat of Nepal’s democracy as it could not only impact upcoming elections but also public debate and understanding of political and social issues.