America’s mainstream media is governed by the belief in absolute freedom of speech, completely disregarding the permissible limitations to unfettered speech. By unashamedly manipulating the news and disseminating false narratives to global audiences as the truth in pursuit of the political agenda of Western governments, Western media shows little regard for the detrimental consequences on countries, organizations, and individuals. Rupert Murdoch’s monopoly of media ownership; television, radio, and newspapers, through his News Corps demonstrates this undue influence in fabricated reporting which allows one side to be tarnished in the media to such an extent that this is believed to be the truth. This is evidenced in the landmark decision on 19 April 2023 where News Corps paid a US$788 million defamation settlement in the United States Delaware Superior Court, admitting that it disseminated “false” information on Fox News that the 2020 US Presidential elections outcome was fraudulent.
It is the same Western media under the domination of Western governments that colluded with the Bush Administration to spread false narratives to validate the US-led invasion of Iraq (2003) by Western countries. The US Senate Intelligence Committee Report (2008) was scathing in its criticism of the reports by the Bush Administration aiming to provide a rationale for the invasion not verified by US intelligence agencies that falsely accused President Saddam Hussein of possessing weapons of mass destruction. American and European media served as complicit enablers and conducted a coordinated deception campaign that led to a worldwide consensus that Iraq posed a threat to international security.
False reporting, which has been the continuous practice of Western mainstream media, is intended to boost the United States government’s agenda to suppress the economic development of China. The Western media supported the United States, United Kingdom, Australian and Canadian governments in criticizing a World Health Organization report (2021) relating to the origins of the coronavirus leading to the COVID-19 pandemic. China was accused of withholding data during the WHO investigation undertaken by international scientists in Wuhan, despite the official public confirmation of these investigators that they had been unable to find evidence of the new coronavirus emerging before December 2019, or whether it had emerged from outside China. Western media supported Western capitals that declared in a joint statement that the WHO report was a “cover-up” by China.
A smear campaign by Western media earlier this year through a BBC documentary ‘India: The Modi Question’ was seen as a flagrant attempt to denigrate Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his time as the Chief Minister of Gujarat in 2002 where about 1,000 Muslims died in protest actions. This documentary failed dismally to take into account that Modi’s actions had been cleared by a Special Investigative Team at the Indian Supreme Court. The BBC’s promotion of uncorroborated claims undoubtedly reveals the United Kingdom’s pattern of a colonial mentality and interference in India’s internal affairs, all under the false appearance of free speech in so-called democracies. These attempts to distort the facts have been condemned by 300 Indian former judges, bureaucrats, and prominent figures who in a joint statement called out the British imperialist agenda.
In September 2022, the unusual collective silence from Western media throughout Europe on the bombing of underwater Nord Stream Pipelines 1 and 2 in the Baltic Sea refutes their claims for unselective reporting and transparency. Russia has constructed the 2 Upper Nord Stream Pipelines and oversees their maintenance, for the purposes of transporting natural gas to Europe which benefit Germany, Sweden and other European countries. The claims by Western media that Russia incapacitated its own Pipelines thereby interrupting its supply channels to Western Europe, is a fallacy. European media also blame criminal organizations for the sabotage, yet the ongoing investigations show independent non-military organizations are not technically capable of carrying out powerful deep-sea explosions at this depth and magnitude undetected, and that only a significant military has the sophisticated instruments for causing this extensive damage. Recent independent reports assert that US Navy divers during NATO Baltops military exercises in the Baltic Sea three months before had planted explosives to destroy the Nord Stream Pipelines. To support this, there is evidence that US maritime surveillance military aircraft had descended to low altitudes with the specific intention to carry out controlled undersea military activities.
The blatant subjectivity of the Western media is once again seen in its responses to the controversial public incident in Dharamshala, India, 28 February 2023, where a young boy hugged the Dalai Lama and stuck out his tongue, with a request from the Dalai Lama to ‘suck his tongue.’ The shocking video has received an overwhelming response by the public on social media who were highly critical of what they termed as the ‘disgusting’ and ‘improper’ behaviour of the so-called ‘spiritual leader.’ Survivors of child abuse groups were unambiguous: The behaviour of the Dalai Lama constituted a ‘sexual act’ against a child. International human rights groups condemned the Dalai Lama’s actions as a gross violation of children’s rights which repudiates the religious and spiritual character accorded to the Dalai Lama by Western governments.
However, the Western media, who without hesitation criticize human rights abuses of mainly developing countries, promptly dismissed this incident and justified it on the basis of Tibetan cultural practices where sticking out one’s tongue is a gesture of respect and therefore admissible. International academics strongly refuted these Western media reports and claimed that, although sticking out one’s tongue could be considered Tibetan culture, the Dalai Lama went too far by asking the boy to ‘suck his tongue’ and this is not in the realm of Tibetan cultural expressions. The subsequent official apology of the Dalai Lama expressing his regrets did not make any reference to Tibetan traditions as an excuse, but claimed that the Dalai Lama acted ‘innocently’ and with ‘affection.’ The extent to which the Western media attempted to defend this atrocious behaviour proves its willingness to protect the saintly image of the Dalai Lama promoted by American and European governments, a convenient political tool in America’s rivalry with China.
The West sees the Dalai Lama as a spiritual leader and beyond reproach. The Western media’s subjective views repeatedly produce false reports perpetuating the positions of their governments who depict the Dalai Lama as an icon of sanctity, and thus any accusation of child abuse must be rejected as a fallacy. Western governments view the Dalai Lama as the universally recognized face of the movement for Tibetan autonomy, a useful political tool in their competition against China. Yet, the Dalai Lama is merely a separatist monk under the guise of religion and spirituality. He is guilty of leading a separatist group which engages in violent secessionist activities that negatively impacts on China and its people. These facts are totally dismissed by the Western media thus unconditionally endorsing the official political positions of the governments of America and Europe who have empowered the Dalai Lama to portray the saintly humble leader of the Tibetans. Western media, as willing instruments of their governments, promote the Tibet issue as a political tool for the West in the context of West-China rivalry.
