ASEAN Media Call for Urgent Need for a Fair Digital Space

Several independent media outlets in Southeast Asia issued a joint statement on World Press Freedom Day, 3 May 2026. In their manifesto, they spotlight how social media platforms tend to hide journalistic works, thereby distancing audiences from verified news.

This media alliance also criticised the monopolistic control of large technology companies over the digital landscape and audience data, which damages the economic model of journalism. Similarly, AI-based companies scrape journalistic content without compensating the media.

This manifesto also invites the public concerned with public interests to collaborate in building a healthy and fair digital space, which is currently dominated by large platforms. For example, by encouraging those technology companies to implement transparent algorithms designed to serve public information needs.

The media that signed this manifesto come from the Philippines, Malaysia, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Indonesia.

Here is the full statement:

World Press Freedom Day Manifesto: Let’s Build the Internet as a Place for Human Flourishing

When crises or conflicts occur, journalists and newsrooms are at the forefront to deliver the information the public needs to make important decisions.

However, journalists and media organisations worldwide are currently trapped in a crisis. This crisis is unfolding before our eyes, but silently, amidst news of other events.

On this World Press Freedom Day, we, independent media, highlight the major changes in the digital space that hinder the flow of verified information to the public and threaten the survival of media.

First, large technology platforms that serve as references for billions of people in seeking information and facts now apply algorithms that hide information and facts. When Meta lowers the priority of news content in users’ Facebook timelines, this makes it increasingly difficult for the public to find journalism on that platform. This situation disconnects media from their readers.

Second, the economic model of journalism has been damaged by the monopolistic control of large technology companies over the digital landscape and audience data. Meanwhile, AI-based data scrapers take journalistic content without compensating publishers, and changes in social media and search engine algorithms significantly reduce news visibility and traffic.

This increases the operational costs of already vulnerable newsrooms while accelerating a drastic decline in revenue. As of April 2026, more than 76 percent of total global digital ad spending is controlled by large technology companies, with firms like Facebook and Google absorbing the majority of that spending.

Third, the rise of disinformation in cyberspace, amplified by AI-based deepfakes, has turned the internet into an unhealthy space. This also negatively impacts media because untrustworthy information overshadows credible and quality information, making the public doubt everything they see online. Trust in the internet is thus increasingly lost.

These various challenges, along with other factors, have caused a wave of layoffs in the news industry, pushing journalists to leave the profession, and leading some media to shut down.

We need a digital space that strengthens the dissemination of facts and high-quality information, rather than hiding it. We need a space for the public to find information without being flooded by low-quality AI content or waves of disinformation.

We call for solutions that enable independent media serving public interests to thrive and remain resilient amid monopolistic competition from large technology companies and authoritarian pressures.

We encourage the creation of a space with transparent algorithms designed to serve societal information needs, not merely for the profit of technology companies.

We invite the public concerned with public interests to work together in building a digital space free from the various internet problems shaped by large technology platforms.

We also invite other news organisations, communities, and civil society organisations to adopt “radical collaboration.” Only by working together and uniting strengths can we reclaim the internet to support human life.

Signatories: Daily Guardian (Philippines), Davao Today (Philippines), Mabuhay (Philippines), Mindanews (Philippines), Mountain Beacon (Philippines), Palawan News (Philippines), PressOne.PH (Philippines), Rappler (Philippines), SunStar Cebu (Philippines), Kiripost (Cambodia), Malaysiakini (Malaysia), Mizzima Media (Myanmar), Tempo (Indonesia)