AMMAN — A
UNESCO meeting tackled challenges posed by the digital age to press
freedom, including the safety and security of journalists, access to
information, and breach of privacy.
اضافة اعلان
“Journalism under digital siege” conference, held in
Jordan Sunday, was in celebration of
World Press Freedom Day, marked every year
on May 3.
A session entitled “Digital safety trends for
journalists” dealt with the main digital security issues faced by journalists,
measures to protect them from emerging digital threats and enable them to
practice their profession without fear.
“A distinguished journalist is someone who has to
struggle to tell the truth,” said Randa Habib, former Amnesty International’s
Regional Director for the
Middle East and North Africa.
Killing journalists has become widespread in the
region, she said, insisting that “conditions must be improved so that
journalists can cover more ground”.
“Journalists must realize that their profession puts
their lives at risk,” Habib said, adding that in dictatorships, “the most
dangerous thing that can be done is to tell the truth”.
Basil Al-Akour, editor-in-chief of Jo24, said
publishing rights and limited freedom of expression in light of digital
evolution are part of “many other challenges” facing journalists.
Foreign funding is a serious challenge, he
maintained. “The current funding is for projects that have no impact on
freedoms, community service, or professional practices, and do not get
translated into real life,” he said. He asserted that international
organizations must “study the reality of journalism in the country they want to
fund”.
Better media tools and addressing self-censorship
are essential to “improving the freedom of the press and media and ensuring
that the profession is going in the right way”, Akour explained.
Khaled Waleed, digital transformation consultant at
Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism, said challenges existed for
a while, but “the mechanism of dealing with technology, awareness, and
evaluation of information play an essential element in digital journalism”.
Users of digital technology, journalists included,
may suffer from breach of privacy, due to lack of awareness and insufficient
knowledge of its use, Waleed said.
He suggested protection methods, such as strong
passwords, using VPN applications, and encrypting files on the used device
after encrypting the device itself.
Another session entitled “Protecting journalists:
defining responsibilities, best practices, global standards, and the future”
discussed ways to develop mechanisms and systems of global standards to protect
journalists in the digital space.
“International human rights play a significant role
in creating a free environment for journalists,” said
Human Rights Adviser to
the Office of the United Nations Resident Coordinator Christina Meneke.
When it comes to human rights, “digital technologies
are helpful, as they enable better access to databases”, she said.
Mirna Abu Zeid, dean of the
Jordan Media Institute,
said the world has adopted literacy programs in the digital world, “and it is
important to adopt literacy in cyber safety, to understand the repercussions of
the threat to the security and privacy of journalists on their work and on
society”.
MP Dina Awni said digital information is a new
concept. She stressed that “the Jordanian Constitution is a legal general umbrella
guaranteeing freedom of opinion”.
Minister of Information Faisal Al-Shboul said that
“our region needs more help to deal with wars and crises and to make democracy
stronger”.
Read more Features
Jordan News
.jpg)
.jpg)
