Donald Trump’s attacks on the press increases the risk of violence against journalists, the United Nations (UN) expert on freedom of expression has warned.
UN and Inter-American experts on freedom of expression have condemned the US president and urged to cease efforts to undermine the media’s role of holding government accountable.
Mr Trump has regularly labelled the media as being the “enemy of the American people” and “very dishonest” or “fake news”. He has also accused the press of “distorting democracy” or spreading “conspiracy theories and blind hatred”.
“His attacks are strategic, designed to undermine confidence in reporting and raise doubts about verifiable facts,” said David Kaye and Edison Lanza, the Special Rapporteurs on freedom of expression for the United Nations and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, respectively.
“These attacks run counter to the country’s obligations to respect press freedom and international human rights law.”
“We are especially concerned that these attacks increase the risk of journalists being targeted with violence.”
They added that Mr Trump had little evidence to back up his claims.