Oslo (AFP)

The Nobel Peace Prize awarded Friday two journalists, Filipina Maria Ressa and Russian Dmitri Muratov, for "their courageous fight for freedom of expression" threatened by repression, censorship, propaganda and disinformation.

The two laureates "are the representatives of all the journalists who defend this ideal in a world where democracy and press freedom face increasingly unfavorable conditions", declared the president of the Norwegian Nobel committee, Berit Reiss -Andersen, in Oslo.

The 58-year-old Maria Ressa co-founded the investigative journalism digital platform Rappler in 2012, a media outlet that shone the spotlight on "the regime's controversial and murderous anti-drug campaign (of Philippine President Rodrigo) Duterte," argued the Nobel committee.

One year his senior, Dmitri Muratov was one of the co-founders and editor-in-chief of the newspaper Novaïa Gazeta, one of the few still independent voices in Russia where dissent faces fierce repression.

The daily notably highlighted "corruption, police violence, illegal arrests, electoral fraud and + troll farms +" and paid a heavy price, the committee stressed: six of its journalists lost their way. life, including Anna Politkovskaïa, killed 15 years ago almost to the day.

In a world where, as the saying goes, "the first victim of war is the truth", this is the first Nobel Peace Prize winner in 120 years of history to reward freedom information as such.

"The Norwegian Nobel Committee is convinced that freedom of expression and freedom of information help to keep an informed public. These rights are essential preconditions for democracy and for guarding against war and conflict," Ms. Reiss-Andersen.

"Free, independent and factual journalism serves to protect against abuse of power, lies and war propaganda," she said.

According to the latest annual ranking by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) - given in advance as one of the favorites for the Nobel -, the press freedom situation is problematic, difficult, even very serious in nearly three quarters (73% ) of the 180 countries assessed by the organization, and good or satisfactory in only 27%.

A disastrous counter kept by RSF on its site shows that 24 professional journalists have been killed since the start of the year and 350 others remain in jail to this day.

From Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, killed in his country's consulate in Istanbul in 2018, to the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, target of recurring criticism from Beijing and forced to close this year in Hong Kong, attempts at muzzling abound.

- 'Infodemia' -

If information is systematically targeted in authoritarian regimes and on battlefields, public debate in countries at peace is also parasitized by "infox", the consequences of which can be dramatic.

On the occasion of the Covid pandemic, the World Health Organization was concerned from the beginning of 2020 about the "infodemic", a "tsunami of information, some accurate, others not" which "may directly affect the health of populations ".

A virus that can take different forms and serve different purposes.

With its armies of hyper-active social media "trolls", Russia has regularly been singled out for its attempts to interfere with elections in the United States and elsewhere, which it denies.

Under the presidency of Donald Trump, the United States itself lived to the rhythm of "fake news" criticized but also propagated by the billionaire who described journalists as "enemies of the people" while being accused of taking multiple freedoms with reality.

"Without freedom of speech and freedom of the press", concluded Mrs. Reiss-Andersen, "it will be difficult to succeed in promoting brotherhood among nations, disarmament and a better world" as Alfred Nobel (1863-1896) wished. ), the founder of the prize, in his will.

The Nobel Peace Prize, which consists of a diploma, a gold medal and a check for 10 million crowns (nearly 980,000 euros), is traditionally awarded on December 10 in the Norwegian capital.

However, one unknown remains: the health situation.

The Nobel Institute must decide in mid-October whether the ceremony, reduced last year mainly to a digital format because of the Covid, is maintained in its usual form with the presence, physical, of the laureate.

© 2021 AFP