World Press Freedom Day: New Challenges Face Journalism in Shadow of AI & Economic Pressures

World 12:58 PM - 2025-05-03

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3 May is celebrated as World Press Freedom Day annually, but attacks and violations against journalists are still increasing day by day and economic pressures and new threats from AI and censorship are another terrible obstacle to journalism.

Journalism facing new threats from AI and censorship

On World Press Freedom Day, the United Nations warned of the deteriorating situation of journalists in the shadow of AI and censorship.

In a statement for the occasion, UN Secretary General António Guterres, said: "When journalists are unable to work, we all lose. Tragically, this is becoming more difficult every year and more dangerous. Journalists face attacks, detentions, censorship, intimidation, violence, and even death simply for doing their jobs."

He added: "And now, as this year's theme reminds us, press freedom faces an unprecedented threat. Artificial intelligence can support freedom of expression or stifle it. Biased algorithms, outright lies, and hate speech are landmines on the information superhighway. Accurate, verifiable, fact-based information is the best tool to diffuse them."

"The Global Digital Compact adopted last year includes concrete steps to strengthen international cooperation to promote information integrity, tolerance, and respect in the digital space," he said.

Furthermore, he noted: "AI must be shaped in a way that is consistent with human rights and puts facts first. And the Global Principles for Information Integrity I launched last year are supporting and informing this work as we push for a more humane information ecosystem."

Economic fragility a leading threat to press freedom

Reporters Without Borders (also known as Reporters Sans Frontières or RSF) published its annual report, warning that economic pressures are seriously weakening the media.

The RSF said: "Although physical attacks against journalists are the most visible violations of press freedom, economic pressure is also a major, more insidious problem. The economic indicator on the RSF World Press Freedom Index now stands at an unprecedented, critical low as its decline continued in 2025. As a result, the global state of press freedom is now classified as a “difficult situation” for the first time in the history of the Index."

It  added: "At a time when press freedom is experiencing a worrying decline in many parts of the world, a major — yet often underestimated — factor is seriously weakening the media: economic pressure. Much of this is due to ownership concentration, pressure from advertisers and financial backers, and public aid that is restricted, absent or allocated in an opaque manner. The data measured by the RSF Index’s economic indicator clearly shows that today’s news media are caught between preserving their editorial independence and ensuring their economic survival."

RSF Editorial Director Anne Bocandé said:
“Guaranteeing freedom, independence and plurality in today’s media landscape requires stable and transparent financial conditions. Without economic independence, there can be no free press. When news media are financially strained, they are drawn into a race to attract audiences at the expense of quality reporting, and can fall prey to the oligarchs and public authorities who seek to exploit them. When journalists are impoverished, they no longer have the means to resist the enemies of the press — those who champion disinformation and propaganda. The media economy must urgently be restored to a state that is conducive to journalism and ensures the production of reliable information, which is inherently costly. Solutions exist and must be deployed on a large scale. The media’s financial independence is a necessary condition for ensuring free, trustworthy information that serves the public interest.”

According to data collected by RSF for the 2025 World Press Freedom Index, in 160 out of the 180 countries assessed, media outlets achieve financial stability “with difficulty” — or “not at all.”

The RSF also noted that U.S. President Donald Trump’s abrupt end to funding for the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which affected several newsrooms — including Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty — and, as a result, over 400 million citizens worldwide were suddenly deprived of access to reliable information. Similarly, the freeze on funding for the US Agency for International Development (USAID) halted US international aid, throwing hundreds of news outlets into a critical state of economic instability and forcing some to shut down — particularly in Ukraine (62nd). 

It also warned that these serious funding cuts are an additional blow to a media economy already weakened by the dominance that tech giants such as Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft have over the dissemination of information, pointing out that these largely unregulated platforms are absorbing an ever-growing share of advertising revenues that would usually support journalism. Total spending on advertising through social media reached 247.3 billion USD in 2024, a 14% increase compared to 2023. These online platforms further hamper the information space by contributing to the spread of manipulated and misleading content, amplifying disinformation.    



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