World Press Freedom Day: Suppression and Media Censorship in Iran Continues

May 3rd, 1993 was designated as World Press Freedom Day by UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Each year on this day, reports on the status of media and freedom of expression and press in different countries are released. The latest reports classify Iran’s press freedom and media situation among the worst ten countries in the world.

The 25th anniversary of World Press Freedom Day is being observed under circumstances where, according to the latest press freedom status report, 45 percent of the world’s population lives in countries lacking free media and facing suppression and censorship.

Countries in this report are ranked from zero to one hundred, representing the best to worst conditions for press and media freedom. The Islamic Republic of Iran is ranked at 90 and is among the worst ten countries in the world, whose media face severe censorship and suffocation.

The report states that criticism of the leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran is a red line that faces severe censorship and dire consequences.

Journalists and media professionals in Iran are forcibly silenced, subjected to harassment and abuse, and targeted by arbitrary detention and fabricated charges.

The report states that although Iranian authorities have officially banned popular global media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, users can access these platforms by using filters and VPNs.

Online activists and bloggers face the same severe legal consequences as journalists for expressing their opinions and views.

The Judiciary in Iran deprives journalists and bloggers of legal proceedings and refers their cases to Revolutionary Courts, where trials are conducted behind closed doors without the right to choose a lawyer.

Cartoonists and caricaturists face a similar fate in Iran.

Reporters Without Borders Report

A week ago, the international organization Reporters Without Borders announced in its latest press freedom ranking that Iran’s position remains at the lowest levels of the table and among the worst countries.

Based on the 2018 global press freedom ranking released by Reporters Without Borders on Wednesday, May 25th, threats and hate campaigns against journalists have increased in many parts of the world.

In this report, noting that Iran improved by one rank and is now at position 164, it states that this is due to the worsening situation of other countries, not an improvement in Iran’s situation.

The report continues: “In 2017, Iran remained one of the world’s five largest prisons for journalists and citizen journalists. No tangible change was observed in the field of freedom of information and media freedom.”

The report also noted that since December 2017, more than twenty journalists and fifty citizen journalists were arrested. Some of them were temporarily released pending appeals court verdicts with heavy bail.

The report, emphasizing that the suppression of journalists and the fight against the free flow of information in Iran continues, considers self-censorship and the creation of fear among journalists as only one of the consequences of this behavior by the Islamic Republic government.

Another section of the report also states that during this period, the suppression of freedom of information has not been limited to the country’s borders, and global media, particularly Persian-language media outside Iran, have also become victims of suppression and threats by the Islamic Republic.

Increased Hate Campaigns Against Journalists

In this report, announcing that hate campaigns against journalists have increased, it states: “Open confrontation with media by some political leaders is being encouraged, and the desires of authoritarian systems to impose their preferred journalism threaten democracy.”

In this report, noting that countries such as Turkey and Egypt are in the lower ranks at positions 157 and 162, it states that the confrontation of political leaders with media is not limited to these countries. The report says that these countries have turned the accusation of “terrorism” against journalists into a common charge and arbitrarily imprison anyone who disagrees with them.

The report also lists war and suppressive measures by dictators as one of the threats to journalists in the past year. Additionally, Norway and Sweden, like last year, held the first and second positions regarding the best conditions for press freedom in the world.

In the report, other countries in the Middle East region, including Iraq, Syria, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen, are ranked at the lower levels of the table.

Countries such as Russia and China, given the continued power of strong leaders who, according to this report, control media and suppress dissenting voices, are ranked at the lower levels of the table in terms of press freedom.

Afghanistan, although still witnessing bloody events for journalists, has improved by two ranks, offering hope for improvement.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has been publishing the global press freedom ranking since 2002. Reporters Without Borders bases this ranking on indicators such as media pluralism and independence.

Source: Voice of America