World Press Freedom Day: Let the obstacles to free expression be removed

World Press Freedom Day was observed in Bangladesh, like the rest of the world, on Sunday. After the fall of the authoritarian government on August 5 last year, a new interim government was formed following the July uprising.

The media had to be under a lot of pressure during the ousted government. But many expected that there would be a free media. There would be freedom of expression. But the reality is different.

Recently, one of the three journalists has asked an advisor about the Bengali New Year and the list of martyrs in the July uprising. There may be doubts about the quality of the question.

He should have been more careful and sensitive when asking question about martyrs. But this is probably the first instance of a journalist losing his job for asking inappropriate questions.

Every year on World Press Freedom Day, discussions and articles highlight the issues of media freedom and the financial security of media workers in Bangladesh. This year’s theme is: “Reporting in the brave new world – The impact of artificial intelligence on press freedom and the media.” The day is being observed worldwide every year since May 3, 1993.

It is to be noted that when the Awami League government took office in 2009, Bangladesh was ranked 121st in the World Press Freedom Index out of 180 countries. But Bangladesh’s position in the 2024 index was 165th. Currently, Nepal (90th), Sri Lanka (139th) and Maldives (104th), all are ahead of Bangladesh.

In the case of Bangladesh, the Cyber Security Act is one such a law that has been seen to be misused against journalists in the past. The interim government’s initiative to repeal the Cyber Security Act and enact a Cyber Security Ordinance is also less characteristically different. If the voice of the people is heard in the media, it will be possible to establish democracy.

As part of this, a Media Reform Commission was formed, which submitted a concise report to the government on March 22. The Media Reform Commission says that if the government implements its recommendations, there will be real change in the media.

A free media is the best friend of any government. Freedom of expression is considered an indicator of a country’s democratic system. Whether a country has freedom of the media or not and its citizens have freedom of thought or not, it is easy to measure the democratic situation.