Media Under Pressure from Political Agenda, Hate Speech, Digital Security Challenges

The Kyrgyz media celebrated World Press Freedom Day 2015 with relative freedom, under pressure from the political agenda, hate speech, digital security challenges and cyber threats.

School of Peacemaking and Media Technology presented the report of freedom of expression in local media and on the internet. Experts emphasised the influence of social and political agenda on the media content. Analysis of the last four months identified 7 major topics covered mostly by the media. The majority of articles and posts were using hate speech. The leading topics covered in the media and on the internet were the Chinese expansion and Kumtor; almost the same number of stories, articles and posts raised the issue of accession of Kyrgyzstan to EAEC. 

The hostile rhetoric remained unchanged in this context and was detected almost in all specified topics. Ethnic backgrounds of people were still the lens through which media reaction to political, economic and social issues could be seen. Retranslating stereotypes and hate speech in public discourse, when media and journalists quoted hostile statements of speakers in full providing no comments, were still a problem.

According to analysts, another trend was the influence of Russian propaganda. This was most noticeable in broadcasting media and on the internet, which discussed war in Ukraine, annexation of Crimea, consequences of accession of Kyrgyzstan to EAEC, relationships between Russia and western countries imposing sanctions against it. Some Russian speaking online media outlets were strongly involved in this debate; their content was characterised by high level of hostility identified in active users of social networks and groups created not only to support, but also to oppose the circulated propaganda.

Also experts analysed the challenges facing the journalists in the digital age, which was the significant factor affecting the freedom and right to maintain confidentiality in online environment. Existing information threats, trolling, phishing, DOS attacks became relevant to those who are involved in journalism and network communications. With the existing law on false information, the need for mastering the skills of linguistic security and overcoming hate speech is increasing. The Kyrgyz editors and journalists should improve their capacity to counter the threats in online environment, to learn the visual hygiene techniques, information security, to improve ethical standards, including on the internet.

As part of these efforts, the team ofSchool of Peacemaking and Media Technology has developed a series of courses and workshops "Journalist Security in the Digital Age”, "Media Literacy in the Digital Age”, "Tools for Linguistic and Speech Security for Central Asia”, as well as a series of researches and tests, which will be launched in the short term.

Tags: School of Peacemaking and Media Technology, Hate Speech Report, Kyrgyz Media, Russian propaganda, under pressure from the political agenda