TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A number of independent media outlets in Southeast Asia issued a joint statement on World Press Freedom Day, May 3, 2026. In their manifesto, they highlighted social media platforms' tendency to hide journalistic work, thus alienating audiences from verified news.
This media alliance also criticized the monopolistic control of large technology companies over the digital landscape and audience data, which has resulted in the undermining of journalism's economic model. This includes the appropriation of journalistic content by artificial intelligence (AI)-based companies without compensation to the media.
The manifesto also calls on those concerned with the public interest to work together to build a healthy digital space, which is currently largely controlled by large platforms. This can be done by encouraging these technology companies to implement transparent algorithms designed to serve the public's information needs.
The media outlets that signed this manifesto are from the Philippines, Malaysia, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Indonesia. From Indonesia, Tempo is the only one.
Here's the full statement:
World Press Freedom Day Manifesto: Let's build the internet as a place where people thrive
When a crisis or conflict occurs, journalists and newsrooms are on the front lines delivering the information the public needs to make crucial decisions.
But now, journalists and media organizations around the world are caught in a crisis. This crisis is unfolding before our eyes, but silently, amidst news about other events.
On this World Press Freedom Day, we, independent media outlets, highlight the profound changes in the digital space that are hindering the flow of verified information to the public and putting the media's survival at increased risk.
First, large technology platforms, which billions of people turn to for information and facts, are now implementing algorithms that hide them. When Meta deprioritized news content in Facebook users' timelines, it made it increasingly difficult for people to find journalism on the platform. This disconnected the media from its readers.
Second, journalism's economic model has been undermined by the monopolistic control of large tech companies over the digital landscape and audience data. Meanwhile, AI-powered data scrapers are harvesting journalistic content without compensating publishers, and changes in social media and search engine algorithms are significantly reducing news visibility and traffic.
This is increasing the operational costs of already vulnerable newsrooms and accelerating a drastic decline in revenue. By April 2026, more than 76 percent of total global digital advertising spending is projected to be controlled by large technology companies, with companies like Facebook and Google absorbing the majority of that spending.
Third, the rise of online disinformation, amplified by AI-powered deepfakes, has made the internet an unhealthy space. This is also detrimental to the media, as unreliable information overshadows credible and quality information, and makes people doubt everything they see online. This further erodes trust in the internet.
These challenges, along with other factors, have led to a wave of layoffs in the news industry, driven journalists to leave the profession, and even led to the closure of several media outlets.
We need a digital space that amplifies the dissemination of facts and high-quality information, not suppresses them. We need a space for people to find information without being inundated with low-quality AI content or a wave of disinformation.
We call for solutions that enable independent media that stands for the public interest to thrive and remain resilient amidst monopolistic competition from big tech companies and authoritarian pressures.
We encourage the creation of a space with transparent algorithms designed to serve the public's information needs, not solely for the profits of tech companies.
We invite people who care about the public interest to work together to build a digital space free from the various internet problems shaped by big tech platforms.
We also call on other news organizations, communities, and civil society organizations to adopt "radical collaboration." Only by working together and joining forces 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)
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