The 2023 World Press Freedom Index reveals journalism under threat from fake content industry

On 3 May, World Press Freedom Day, the 2023 World Press Freedom Index, compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), was released. The index highlights the rapid impact of the digital ecosystem’s fake content industry on press freedom, assessing the environment for journalism in 180 countries and territories. It also reveals that the media world is being further disrupted by the remarkable development of artificial intelligence.

According to the Index, the situation is ‘very serious’ in 31 of these 180 countries, ‘difficult’ in 42, ‘problematic’ in 55 and ‘good’ or ‘satisfactory’ in 52. Norway ranks first for the seventh consecutive year. Asian countries occupy the last three places: Vietnam, China and North Korea. In 118 countries, the majority of respondents to the Index’s questionnaire reported that political actors in their country were frequently or systematically involved in large-scale disinformation or propaganda campaigns.

The line between real and fake, true and false, facts and fabrications is becoming increasingly hazy, endangering the right to information. The unparalleled power to manipulate content is being exploited to discredit those who uphold high reporting standards and damage journalism as a whole. The media industry is becoming further destabilised by the remarkable advancement of artificial intelligence, which was previously threatened by Web 2.0.