Without a free press democracy cannot survive - UNSG

COLOMBO (News 1st) - Protecting Press Freedom for Democracy - is the theme for International Democracy Day 2022.

This year, Democracy Day will focus on the importance of media freedom to democracy, peace, and delivering on the Sustainable Development Goals.  

"Media workers face censorship, detention, physical violence and even killings often with impunity. Such dark paths inevitably lead to instability, injustice and worse. Without a free press democracy cannot survive. Without freedom of expression, there is no freedom. On Democracy Day and every day let us join forces to secure freedom and protect the rights of all people, everywhere," said Antonio Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations

UNESCO has reported that 85 per cent of the world’s population experienced a decline in press freedom in their country in the past five years.

Media globally are increasingly facing attacks, online and offline, increasing detention; the use of defamation laws as well as cybersecurity or hate speech laws to curb online expression; the growing use of Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation Laws (SLAPPS) and surveillance technologies; to target them and hamper their work. 

Attempts to silence journalists are growing more brazen by the day and they often pay the ultimate price. From 2016 to the end of 2021, UNESCO recorded the killings of 455 journalists, who either died for their work or while on the job.