New challenges: digital aggression
"When the government pressures its people and hides from invsetigations, the independent press is one of the most powerful means of expression to reveal evil and keep the society's trust," as stated in UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon's address on World Press Freedom Day.
According to him, when people go against discrimination and isolation, the accessibility of presses may give them the voice and create conditions for providing awareness of their problems.
"World Press Freedom Day traces back to African journalists who used to search for a similar development on their continent after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the restrictions on press in Western Europe. They worked with UNESCO to organize a seminar in Namibia in 1991 and that served as a reason for the creation of the Windhock Declaration on free, independent press. This idea inspired the UN General Assembly, which declared this day as World Press Freedom Day two years after that.
Today, North African and Middle Eastern nations have centralized their efforts for their democratic rights and freedoms and are implementing that through the Internet and social networks in order to reach change in their societies.
The theme of this year is "New Challenges, New Bans", which emphasizes the description of world press. The new types and instruments of mass media, one of which is the mobile phone, continue to allow individuals to enrich the flow of information and shed light on the activities of the government, business and industry that remain shady for a certain period of time.
Nevertheless, alongside the advantages, there are also challenges such as the dissemination of hatred through the press and provocation of violence. There are new, undeniable bans by member-states, including control over the virtual information area, digital aggression and censure on the Internet.
On World Press Freedom Day, let's remember the journalists, editors and other press experts who were murdered because of their activities. Striving for justice, let's honor their memory. Impunity often leads to murders, shows the lack of officials' care for the protection of journalists and the overt negligence toward their activities.
Today, as we are celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Windhock Declaration, let's also promise to eliminate the digital barrier so that people can have access to the new types of mass media and communication technologies.
The Universal Declaration on Human Rights affirms that everyone has the right to "search, receive and send information and ideas through presses regardless of borders." Let's reaffirm the promise for democracy, development and peace," as stated in the address.
