Press Freedom: America’s Walking Is Not America’s Preaching

Rasa - We all know how the United States has placed sanctions on other countries for alleged harsh treatment of bloggers, journalists and online activists.

News ID: 437407

Date: 28 April 2018 - 22:38

RNA - But did you also know that the United States itself is one of the worst violators of press freedom in the world, and that under the reign of twitter-in-chief Donald Trump press freedom in that country is rapidly declining - with global repercussions? Well, you should. Because the latest World Press Freedom Index says just that and more: That for the second straight year, the United States has dropped two spots, and now ranks 45th on the latest World Press Freedom Index. The report is published annually by Reporters San Frontiers - also known as RSF, or Reporters Without Borders.

The index's release comes amid mounting warnings about the dangers of Trump's attacks on the news that criticise his domestic and foreign policies, particularly those pertaining to America’s open-ended wars in the Middle East and its threat to exit the nuclear deal it signed with Iran along with other permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany.

Trump calls these conscientious journalists "the enemy of the American people." He even unveiled his so-called Fake News Awards - a stunt that was widely ridiculed by journalists and free speech advocates, who said: "We laugh about the Fake News Awards but it is in fact quite terrifying and chilling. This is what happens in dictatorships and fascist regimes."

Indeed. Under the reign of Trump, America has become a dictatorship and a fascist regime that jails whistle-blowers and forces them into self-exile; builds walls to stop migrants and refugees from entering the United States; imposes Muslim travel ban on the pretext of fighting terror; and separates parents and grandparents from their children despite having lived together on US soil for decades.

As RSF explains: The US's decline in press freedom is not simply bad news for journalists working inside the country; the downward trend has drastic consequences at the international level as well. 'Fake news' is now a trademark excuse for media repression, in both democratic and authoritarian regimes, i.e., US NATO and Arab allies. These are also the same regimes that are on the same bandwagon with the United States busy dropping bombs on Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Yemen to “democratise and liberate” their terrorized people. These are also the same regimes that enjoy Washington’s veto power whenever the UN Security Council tries to issue a resolution to stop them from bombing and starving civilians in Yemen or Gaza.

On the other hand, when Persian Gulf Arab states like Saudi Arabia and the UAE see Master Trump denounce the media on a regular basis for criticising his destabilising regime-change campaigns in the Middle East, it gives them free rein to do the same. We see it in these unelected, authoritarian countries, but alarmingly we also see the impact in democratic ones, too, in places like Britain and France where the unleashing of hatred towards anti-war journalists is one of the worst threats to democracies.

Together with right-wing populist politics and xenophobic leaders, they have managed to turn Europe into a terrible place to live for anti-war journalists where Fascism thrives in obscurity and darkness. And it’s getting darker and darker, so much so that some of them like Edward Snowden and Julian Assange have either fled the country or sought asylum in a Latin American embassy.

Practice what you preach, so they say. It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless Washington’s walking is Washington’s preaching. Washington can't pick and choose which types of freedom it wants to defend. The War Party must defend all of it or be against all of it.

Long story short, it has been evident for some time now that the United States government is in no way fit to preach press freedom and democracy to other nations, much less impose sanctions against them for alleged violation of freedom, democracy, and freedom of press. From the misuse of anti-terror law to ‘enemies of the homeland’ rhetoric to physical attacks, murder, jail and exile, journalists from the United States and some parts of Europe have experienced first-hand the corrosive impact of assaults on free expression.

American journalists and anti-war activists are now in a unique position to help the international civil society better understand what they are really facing in the United States, and where they are headed if they do not defeat the virulent strain of press hatred and censorship stoked by the Trump White House, the War Party on the Capitol Hill, and the mere extras in the National Security Agency.

Source: Fars News Agency

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