Domestic terrorism and freedom of press: a communicative understanding of a threat to western democracies

Abstract

Terrorism is a clear and, to a certain extent, measurable threat against democracy that unfolds not only in the physical domain but also in the communicative and informational environment. Freedom of press is a relevant variable through which this communicative element of terrorism has been explored. This thesis aims at exploring the relation between freedom of press and domestic terrorism between 2000 and 2019 on a sample of 21 western countries and performs negative binomial regressions using data from the Global Terrorism Data Base and Varieties of Democracy. The regressions and theoretical models suggest restricting press freedom is not a reasonable alternative against terrorism. On the contrary, this thesis finds the media can play a key role against terrorism not only by providing a factual based interpretation of reality, but also by acting as an ideological counterweight to the ideas and belief systems that encourage polarization and radicalization in the first place, and on which terrorist ultimately rely to legitimize their violent actions. The potential of the media in acting against terrorism is clearer in the stage of radicalization of individuals and must be understood in conjunction with the role of other actors and platforms and considering the current threats that democracy is facing in western countries, like polarization and misinformation.