"We have not been here before. The BBC is used to coming under pressure from political parties, well-funded pressure groups and powerful newspaper publishers. But the threat of a lawsuit from the US president is unprecedented. This latest furore is dangerous because it comes at a time when democracy faces an information crisis. The foundations of informed democratic debate are under attack across the globe from a combination of AI-generated deepfakes, hostile state propaganda and algorithms that amplify divisions through social media."
"We have already seen how Elon Musk, the wealthiest man on the planet, is prepared to use his own social media platform, X, to interfere in the affairs of other countries and exert a chilling influence on democracies. The tech platforms through which most media and news content is distributed, discovered, consumed and shared X, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Amazon Web Services and Prime Video, TikTok USA, YouTube and Google are owned or controlled by six American billionaires who pursue self-interested agendas, aided by a litigious president intent on browbeating the media."
A legal threat from the US president toward the BBC represents an unprecedented pressure on a public broadcaster. Democracy faces an information crisis driven by AI-generated deepfakes, hostile state propaganda and algorithms that amplify social divisions. Private tech platforms concentrated in the hands of a few billionaires control most distribution, discovery and consumption of news, enabling self-interested agendas. High-profile owners can interfere in other countries and chill democratic debate. Regulatory capture and media capitulation in the US have weakened defenses for free speech, while funding cuts to public broadcasting further erode independent journalism. Proposals aim to secure the BBC's governance and funding.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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