DISINFO: The freedom of speech is purged from Western media outlets
SUMMARY
Freedom of speech has long been purged from Western media outlets. Every journalist and editor was told how to do their job and those who didn’t get it were driven out of the profession. Now, central media outlets are more or less controlled and do what they’re told: push LGBT rights, global warming, Greta Thunberg, the arrival of migrants into Europe, chemical attacks in Syria, Russian interference, protests in Hong Kong, and basically whatever fits with the current political agenda. Against the rapid deterioration of “soft power” and the collapse of liberal ideology in the West, we are starting to see a rather strict censorship being imposed to protect the propaganda machine that has been so painstakingly created.
RESPONSE
This is a conspiracy theory, presented without evidence, pushing a common pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative that there is a degradation of democracy and free speech in the West. Pro-Kremlin outlets frequently direct attacks against many different countries for allegedly lacking free speech and imposing censorship on media, including Germany, Finland, Denmark, the Baltics, and France, among others. According to Reporters Without Borders, the freest countries in the world in terms of press freedom are predominantly European countries, including Norway, Finland, Sweden, Netherlands, Denmark, Switzerland, Belgium, Estonia, Portugal, Germany, etc. On the other hand, Russia is ranked as “not free”, according to Freedom House’s Freedom of the Press report. According to Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index, Russia is ranked 149th among 180 countries. 38 journalists have been murdered in Russia since 1993 for preparing investigative materials on corruption, politics and human rights violations. Almost all leading media outlets in the country are controlled by persons affiliated with the authorities or the Kremlin. See similar cases that there is a deterioration of democracy in the West, the EU and the US violate the rights of Russian journalists, and the ECHR and UN Convention on Human Rights strongly restrict freedom of expression.