Trump’s aid cuts will lead to a surge of propaganda, say press freedom groups Loss of USAid funds will sow ‘chaos and confusion’ and force independent media outlets to shut down, says RSF.
Donald Trump’s foreign aid freeze will lead to a decline in the number of independent media outlets across the world, causing a surge in misinformation and playing into the hands of state propagandists, media organisations have warned.
In neighbouring Belarus, Natalia Belikova, of Press Club Belarus, said 70% of her organisation’s funding came from a mix of US federal sources and that various cuts and freezes to funding had put it on “the brink of existence”.
Valerii Garmash, head of Make Sense, which develops independent media in Ukraine and received almost 50% of its funds for its 6262.com.ua website in the city of Slavyansk from USAid, said its projects had started shutting down.
Babinets said that since the funding freezes and cuts had been announced, anonymous Telegram channels and unnamed websites had also sought to discredit media recipients of USAid in Ukraine.
