United States:One Year After Joe Biden's Arrival in the White House, RSF Calls on the US Administration to Make a Greater Commitment to Press Freedom

A year just after President Biden was sworn in, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is concerned about the state of press freedom in the United States, and calls on the White House and the 117th Congress to redouble their efforts. efforts to guarantee the safety of journalists and the protection of press freedom inside and outside the country’s borders.

American journalists have faced unprecedented violations of the First Amendment amid widespread animosity and aggression. In 2021, more than 50 of them were arrested or detained in the exercise of their activity – a number almost equivalent to the total of journalists arrested in 2017, 2018 and 2019 all years combined, according to data published by the US Press Freedom Tracker , a partner association of RSF.

The assurance that journalists can carry out their work in complete safety in the United States, once considered a safe haven for the profession, is slowly disappearing,” notes RSF Secretary General Christophe Deloire. We call on the Biden administration to dedicate its second year in office to safeguarding press freedom, which is deteriorating alarmingly, and to resuming its role as protector of freedom of information and human rights at the international level. We salute the Biden government’s commitment to supporting journalism around the world, as it said at the last Democracy Summit, but the United States must first lead by example within their borders.

Press conditions have rapidly deteriorated under the Trump administration. In 2020, the fourth year of his tenure, a record number of journalists were arrested, in addition to 856 other types of attacks against them – mostly deliberate and unjustified physical attacks on clearly identified reporters. The last days of Donald Trump’s presidency were marked by an insurgency in Washington , which left five people dead and during which protesters destroyed tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of equipment belonging to The Associated Press , smashed cameras shouting “Down with CNN”and tagged on a door inside the Capitol the inscription “Murder the media” .

Early in his term, President Biden expressed his administration ‘s desire to see the United States regain its status as a beacon of free expression. On inauguration day, a year ago to the day, on the steps of the Capitol which had just been invaded, Joe Biden made a vow to maintain a climate of truth. Immediately afterwards, the new administration restored regular press briefings from the White House and the federal agency. Officials who had been silenced were able to communicate reliable information about the pandemic to the American public. President Biden also said during his first major official foreign policy address that“a free press is essential to the health of a democracy” .

Despite these laudable efforts, many of the chronic and underlying issues impacting journalists – from the disappearance of local titles to the systematic polarization of the media, to the undermining of journalism and democracy by digital platforms and social media – remain largely ignored by the White House and Congress. RSF continues to call, in line with its commitment to protect media freedom, for the Department of Justice to permanently drop the case opened more than 10 years ago against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange , who faces imprisonment life for publishing information of public interest. The framework of these lawsuits clearly sets a precedent that proves dangerous for journalism.

“After four years of President Trump regularly attacking journalists and undermining their profession, we applaud President Biden’s renewed commitment to the press, but it’s time to move from rhetoric to action. says the deputy director of the RSF office in the United States, Clayton Weimers. The independent press and press freedom are at risk in the United States and elsewhere, we look forward to working with the Biden administration to strengthen the rights of journalists everywhere. »

RSF remains ready to seize every opportunity to work with the executive and legislative branches of the US federal government to improve conditions for press freedom in the United States, and urges the Biden administration to devote its second year in office to work with Congress to concretely improve the situation of freedom of the press.

The United States ranks 45th out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2021 World Press Freedom Index .