The Chamber of Deputies has scheduled a debate on press freedom this afternoon, and according to Roger Infalt, a rise in death threats, insults, and intimidation against journalists since the beginning of the pandemic has made discussing the issue more urgent than ever.
Infalt believes that people no longer control their anger before posting online, and with the constant influx of fake news and conspiracy theories, many no longer know what to believe.
Given the situation, the ALJP president argued in favour of a law to limit and penalise the spreading of fake news.
In the age of social media, false statements can easily reach countless people, Infalt noted: “It used to be the case that people would print fake news on pamphlets and put them in letterboxes in their area, but we no longer have these physical limitations.”
When asked about the ongoing tensions between the press and the Alternative Democratic Reform Party (ADR), Infalt lamented that accusations of fake news damage people’s trust in the media, which is why the government should take decisive actions.
In general, life for media and news agencies has become more difficult, but Luxembourg also struggles in terms of freedom of the press, said Infalt. The Grand Duchy continues dropping in the press freedom index and is now ranked 20th, three spots lower than in 2019 and 16 lower than in 2014.
Infalt thinks that the cause of the problem is that Luxembourg is the only EU country, apart from Malta, which does not have a so-called access to information act. He further underlined that ALJP has been pleading for the introduction of such a regulation for the past twelve years.
