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Online media fueling divisions, global tensions: Report
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Documentary of war: A serviceman films a destroyed Russian tank and armored vehicles amid Russia's invasion on Ukraine in Bucha, in Kyiv region, April 2. (Reuters/Zohra Bensemra)
U
nregulated online content has spread disinformation and propaganda that have amplified political divisions worldwide, fanned international tensions and even contributed to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a media watchdog warned Tuesday.
Reporters Without Borders said democratic societies are increasingly fractured by social media spreading disinformation and more opinion media pursuing a so-called "Fox News model", referring to the controversial right-wing television network in the United States.
At the same time, despotic and autocratic regimes that tightly control information in their societies are using their "asymmetric" position to wage "propaganda wars" against democracies and fuel divisions within them, the watchdog said in the 2022 edition of its annual World Press Freedom Index.
"Polarization on these two levels is fueling increased tension," Reporters Without Borders, widely known by its French acronym RSF, said in a five-page summary.
It noted Russia, where state-run media overwhelmingly dominate and independent outlets are increasingly stifled, invaded Ukraine following a propaganda war.
"The creation of media weaponry in authoritarian countries eliminates their citizens' right to information but is also linked to the rise in international tension, which can lead to the worst kind of wars," RSF Secretary-General Christophe Deloire said.
He added the "Fox News-ization" of Western media also poses a "fatal danger for democracies because it undermines the basis of civil harmony and tolerant public debate".
