Manifesto for World Press Freedom Day: ‘Let’s build an internet where humans thrive’

When crisis or conflict strikes, journalists and newsrooms go to the frontlines to bring people the information they need to make crucial decisions.

But journalists and media organizations all over the world are caught in a crisis, too. It is unfolding before our very eyes, but quietly, between the headlines of other calamities.

This World Press Freedom Day, we independent news organizations, want to bring attention to seismic shifts in the digital space that’s choking the flow of verified information to the public and making it less likely for media outlets to survive.

First, big tech platforms where billions of people turn to for information and facts are deploying algorithms that hide information and facts. When Meta deprioritized news content on Facebook users’ feeds, it made it more difficult for people to find journalism on Facebook. This harms media organizations because we are effectively cut off from our readers.

Second, the economic model for journalism has been destroyed by Big Tech’s monopolistic control over the digital landscape and audience data. While parasitic AI scrapers extract journalistic content without compensating publishers, altered social media and search algorithms severely reduce news visibility and traffic.

These increase operational costs for already-precarious newsrooms while catalyzing further catastrophic declines in revenue. As of April 2026, over 76% of total worldwide digital advertising spend has been captured by Big Tech, with companies like Facebook and Google capturing the vast majority of digital advertising spend.

Third, the persistent rise of disinformation online, supercharged by AI deepfakes, has turned the internet into an ugly, toxic world. This is bad for media organizations too, because the toxic sludge is crowding out the credible, high-quality information we put out, and making people second-guess everything they see online. Trust is dead on the internet.

These challenges, together with other factors, have caused massive layoffs across the news industry, journalists to leave behind journalism, or news outlets to close shop.

We need a digital space where facts and high-quality information are amplified, not buried. We need a space where people can find information without being fed AI slop, or a barrage of disinformation.

We call for solutions that will enable independent public interest media to thrive and remain resilient in the face of monopolistic competition from Big Tech and authoritarian attacks.

We push for a space where algorithms are transparent and designed to serve the information needs of people, not the profit margins of tech companies.

We call on civic-minded citizens to work with us in building digital spaces cured of the ills that now define the internet built by big tech platforms.

We call on 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.

Signatories

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)
Tempo (Indonesia)