Asian newsrooms warn Big Tech is choking press freedom

By Francis Allan L. Angelo

Thirteen independent news organizations across Southeast Asia have issued a joint manifesto on World Press Freedom Day, warning that Big Tech platforms, parasitic artificial intelligence scrapers, and a flood of online disinformation are pushing public interest journalism toward collapse.

Daily Guardian is among the signatories of the manifesto titled “Let’s build an internet where humans thrive,” alongside Rappler, Malaysiakini, Mindanews, SunStar Cebu, Tempo of Indonesia, Mizzima Media of Myanmar, and Kiripost of Cambodia.

The newsrooms said journalists and media organizations are themselves “caught in a crisis” that is unfolding quietly between the headlines of other calamities, even as reporters continue to cover conflicts and disasters on the frontlines.

The manifesto identified three seismic shifts choking the flow of verified information to the public.

First, the signatories said big tech platforms where billions of people turn to for information are deploying algorithms that hide facts. They cited Meta’s decision to deprioritize news content on Facebook feeds as an action that effectively cut media organizations off from their readers.

Second, the manifesto said the economic model for journalism has been destroyed by Big Tech’s monopolistic control over the digital landscape and audience data. It described AI scrapers as “parasitic” for extracting journalistic content without compensating publishers, while altered social media and search algorithms cut news visibility and traffic.

As of April 2026, more than 76% of total worldwide digital advertising spend has been captured by Big Tech, with Facebook and Google taking the vast majority, according to the manifesto.

Third, the signatories pointed to the persistent rise of disinformation online, supercharged by AI deepfakes, which they said has turned the internet into a toxic environment that crowds out credible reporting and erodes public trust.

“Trust is dead on the internet,” the manifesto declared.

These pressures, the newsrooms said, have driven massive layoffs across the news industry, forced journalists to leave the profession, and shuttered news outlets.

The signatories called for a digital space where facts and high-quality information are amplified rather than buried, and where users are not fed “AI slop” or a barrage of disinformation.

They pushed for transparent algorithms designed to serve the information needs of people rather than the profit margins of tech companies, and for solutions that allow independent public interest media to remain resilient against monopolistic competition and authoritarian attacks.

The manifesto urged other news groups, communities, and civic-minded organizations to embrace “radical collaboration.”

“Only by working together, and joining forces can we take back the internet for human thriving,” the signatories said.

The full list of signatories includes Daily Guardian (Iloilo, Philippines), Davao Today (Davao City, Philippines), Kiripost (Cambodia), Mabuhay (Philippines), Malaysiakini (Malaysia), Mindanews (Mindanao, Philippines), Mizzima Media (Myanmar), Mountain Beacon (Baguio City, Philippines), Palawan News (Palawan, Philippines), PressOne.PH (Philippines), Rappler (Philippines), SunStar Cebu (Cebu, Philippines), and Tempo (Indonesia).