World Press Freedom Day is marked every year on 3 May, but there is little reason to celebrate as journalists continue to be repressed and persecuted all over the world. The challenges facing the press are discussed by Parliament’s human rights subcommittee on Thursday morning, with a special focus on the growing threat of disinformation. .

The internet technologies have created new opportunities for the media, and greatest advantage in promoting democracy representing threat to authoritarian powers, resting on filtering news to manipulate public opinion.

IT technologies and social media cause the traditional mass media profound crisis in the leading democracies as the USA, where the president accuses mass media of misrepresenting his views, preferring social media, namely Twitter to communicate with the citizens.

During the debate on 4 May, members of the human rights subcommittee will discuss the World Press Freedom index compiled by Reporters without Borders as well the European Endowment for Democracy (EED) activities in the field of media freedom and how the EU is reacting to disinformation and fake news.

“When we consider press freedom, we also have to look at the internet. It is a source of knowledge as much as it is a source of concern. Almost half of all Europeans get their news from social media. This has made spreading fake news far too easy. There are mounting concerns over disinformation and hate speech, used to promote radicalization and fundamentalism, particularly among young people,” – Parliament President Antonio Tajani called attention to the issue in a statement.