Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am grateful to have an opportunity to contribute to this important debate. Journalists working in conflict situations risk their lives every day. They do so in the name of truth, accuracy, transparency and fair reporting. Sadly, they sometimes pay with the ultimate sacrifice, that is, with their lives. Today, I particularly remember Irish journalist, Pierre Zakrzewski, who was killed when his car was hit by Russian shelling outside Kyiv on 14 March, and Shireen Abu Akleh, an Al Jazeera journalist who was shot and killed by Israeli forces while on assignment in the occupied West Bank on 11 May. Pierre and Shireen join a long and shameful list of journalists murdered while doing their job. Across the world, there is a growing threat to press freedom and it must be addressed at all costs.

Today, as we all know, marks three months since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began. An article in The Wall Street Journalyesterday puts the civilian death toll at 4,600, including 232 children. These figures do not include deaths in Russian-occupied territories because we simply do not yet know what horrors have occurred there. We can observe from satellite images and, indeed, continued media coverage that the situation in these occupied areas is catastrophic. In addition, we do not know the number of soldiers and military personnel who have been killed, a large number of whom were civilians a few short months ago.

However, we know that at least 23 journalists have died during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. That number is, sadly, likely only to grow in the coming months, at a time when quality journalism has never been more important.

It has often been remarked upon that this war on European soil is unlike others before it. Never before have the media allowed us such a window into a conflict zone, to see and hear from political leaders, community workers and civilians doing their utmost to survive and shed some light on the hell through which they are living. None of this would be possible without the journalists working day in and day out to uncover the truth of what is happening in Ukraine against a backdrop of Russian fake news and disinformation, which continues to be fact-checked, called out and discredited. That is what we need our quality journalists to do. Journalists who remain on the ground are risking their lives and I am very grateful for that.

As we know, women journalists are at particular risk, as the Minister remarked earlier. The murders of Lyra McKee and Veronica Guerin highlight the risks that women journalists face on our own shores. They face a disproportionate level of attack and abuse and are especially vulnerable targets when it comes to conflicts, both offline and online. The attacks by Israeli forces at the funeral of Shireen Abu Akleh are a prime example of this. Not even in death was Ms Abu Akleh shown the respect she deserved - respect befitting a world-renowned journalist. I urge the Minister, in every way possible, to ensure the Israeli forces are held accountable for their actions, justice is served and Ireland continues to pull its weight on the world stage in upholding the importance of press protection and freedom.

Before I was elected to this House, I had the opportunity to travel to some conflict zones. I got a very small taste of some of the fear, intimidation and threats that others receive. I found myself in Fiji during a military coup. I was in Kosovo while it built up a brand-new democracy and I was in Palestine during conflict. I stood in the West Bank in places such as Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Ramallah. I crossed the border at Qalandiya and I went through the checkpoint there alone, in the darkness of night. I stood in Hebron during Passover when hundreds of heavily-armed Israeli soldiers burst out of a military zone and took over a Palestinian town. I watched helplessly as those Israeli soldiers banged on the doors of Palestinian homes, forced their way in and illegally occupied these homes to get to their rooftops in order that their snipers could police what was going on below. All of this was simply to watch over a group of tourists visiting a holy site in that town. I counted approximately eight Israeli soldiers for every one of those tourists. I recall standing on a side street in Hebron under a caged roof that was burned through in places by acid thrown down into the settlement. I stood there with my cousin, who worked for an NGO in Palestine at the time and is currently in Syria. We counted seven snipers who were aiming weapons at us, no matter where we walked. The difference between those Israeli soldiers and soldiers I have come across elsewhere in the world is that I knew instinctively they were not there to protect me or the people around me, or to keep the peace.

Seeing the real-life experiences in other countries ingrained in me a deep respect for our democracy, as well as a deep respect for and admiration of the journalists who fight to protect and uphold it. I welcome that we will continue to use our voice in the EU and on the Security Council, the Human Rights Council and the Council of Europe to strongly condemn and call for actions necessary to protect journalists at home and abroad. In a time when news is instant and freedom of speech is threatened on a daily basis, winning the propaganda war has become almost as important as winning the ground war in a conflict. Significant press freedom and responsibility are tied up in the responsibility of social media platforms and their duty to monitor their platforms' content because these go hand in hand.

Globally, we are sadly failing to uphold the reputation of quality journalism by allowing an avalanche of disinformation and harmful opinions to be passed off as freedom of speech or citizen journalism. Social media platforms are, by and large, failing in that way. The recent moves by billionaire, Elon Musk, to acquire Twitter and allow absolute freedom of speech, as he calls it, do not fill me with hope for the future or the future of regulating social media and protecting quality journalism. I am grateful to the many journalists and media personnel who risk their lives in conflicts every day and for the bravery, conviction and advocacy of NGO workers such as my cousin, Brona Higgins, who are on the ground in war zones. Their sacrifice should never be overlooked and the importance of their work should never be underestimated.

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