United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, has said that without freedom of the press, there are no real democratic societies. Without freedom of the press, there is no freedom, he said.

In his message on World Press Freedom Day, the UN chief said that the threats to the freedom of journalists and media workers are growing by the day.

 From global health to the climate crisis, corruption, and human rights abuses, they face increased politicization of their work and attempts to silence them from many sides, the UN chief said. He further added that digital technology has democratized access to information. But it has also created serious challenges.

The business models of many social media platforms are based not on increasing access to accurate reporting, but on increasing engagement – which often means provoking outrage and spreading lies, he said.