Media as Weapon: Deadly Echoes of Bias on Air

From Myanmar to Japan: How media as weapon in narrative wars fuels global persecution through distorted stories, turning media from watchdog to attack dog

The Fragile Balance of Press Freedom and Religious Liberty

The Dangerous Power of a Distorted Press

Part 2 of an article by Peter Zoehrer, journalist and Executive Director of FOREF Europe, originally published 7th May 2025 by Forum for Religious Freedom Europe (FOREF), republished 9th May 2025 by Human Rights Without Frontiers, and by Bitter Winter on 16th May 2025. 

See part 1: Media: Harmful Impact of Stigmatizing Language

See part 3: After the N-Word: Is “Cult” Next Term to Be Banned?

Global consequences: Media as an accelerant

The consequences of distorted media narratives are felt worldwide – and are often deadly.

In Myanmar, anti-Muslim rhetoric helped lay the groundwork for the Rohingya genocide. In Pakistan, media-fueled accusations of heresy against Ahmadi Muslims often end in mob violence.

China: Media-driven cultural genocide

In China, state propaganda systematically demonizes religious minorities that are considered a threat to the ideology of the Communist Party. Falun Gong practitioners have been vilified as members of an “evil cult” since the 1999 ban, a label that justifies mass detention, torture, and organ harvesting. The China Tribunal, an independent panel, documented that Falun Gong adherents and other minorities such as Uyghurs are targeted victims of state-organized organ trafficking.

Since 2017, over a million Uyghurs in Xinjiang have been interned in so-called “re-education camps”, where they are subjected to forced labor, cultural eradication, and political indoctrination. State media portray this as “vocational training”, while reports of torture, forced sterilization, and the demolition of mosques are ignored. Tibetans suffer a similar fate: monasteries are destroyed, the Tibetan language is suppressed, and the Dalai Lama is defamed as a “separatist”. These narratives, spread by state-controlled media, legitimize cultural genocide.

Russia: State media as a tool of repression

In Russia, Jehovah’s Witnesses were banned as an “extremist organization” in 2017, a move that was prepared by years of state-orchestrated media campaigns. State media outlets such as Rossija 24 and RT portrayed the group as a threat to national security, despite no evidence of criminal behavior. After the ban, over 180,000 members were forced underground, hundreds were detained, and many reported torture and house searches. State media played a central role in rallying public support for the persecution and suppressing dissent. This case shows how media can be used as a tool of state repression.

In India, nationalist outlets inflame religious tensions, targeting Christians and Muslims. The 2022 U.S. State Department Report warns that media bias plays a growing role in triggering violence.

Nigeria: The hidden tragedy of Christians

In Nigeria, the persecution of Christians remains one of the least reported human rights crises. Between 2020 and 2024, according to Open Doors, over 14,000 Christians were killed by extremist groups such as Boko Haram, ISWAP, and radicalized Fulani militias. In 2023 alone, over 5,000 Christians were murdered, thousands of churches destroyed, and hundreds of thousands displaced. Yet global media coverage remains patchy, and the religious motive is often omitted. This silence promotes impunity and signals to persecutors that the world will look away. In regions with weak state protection, the media’s failure to report the truth allows suffering to continue unabated.

Silence is complicity. When the media remain silent about the persecution of Christians in Nigeria, they are not only failing as journalists – they are complicit. Over 14,000 dead in four years, thousands of churches destroyed – and hardly any reporting. Democracy dies in darkness. When journalists conceal “crimes against humanity”, they violate their ethical duty to truthfulness. Silence does not protect the victims but encourages the perpetrators.

Japan: Media witch hunt with global consequences

In Japan, media smear campaigns have reached unprecedented levels. Following the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2022, the Unification Church was branded a “cult” in over 4,000 articles, even though there was no connection to the crime. The assassin, Tetsuya Yamagami, acted out of personal motives, but the media used the tragedy to unleash a witch hunt.

Under this pressure, the government took legal action, which led to the dissolution of the church by the Tokyo District Court on 25^th March 2025. The appeal is pending, but the social damage is immense: children are being bullied, companies are terminating contracts, and banks are refusing to provide services. If the appeal fails, all assets will be seized, and churches will be closed – an unprecedented destruction of a legal religious community without any criminal basis.

This process is a wake-up call for democracies worldwide. Japan, the third-largest economy and a supposedly stable democracy, is trampling on fundamental principles such as religious freedom and the rule of law. Dictatorial and autocratic regimes are rubbing their hands with glee as they watch a democratic nation set such precedents. The “copycat effect” is inevitable: authoritarian states could use Japan’s actions as a blueprint to suppress religious minorities under the guise of media and political unpopularity.

International voices, including former US Ambassador Sam Brownback, former Speaker Newt Gingrich, and USCIRF Co-Chair Katrina Lantos-Swett, condemn this as a direct attack on democracy. European experts such as Massimo Introvigne, Willy Fautré, and Aaron Rhodes also warn that Japan is opening a Pandora’s box that could have global repercussions.

Continued in part 3.

See part 1: Media: Harmful Impact of Stigmatizing Language

See part 3: After the N-Word: Is “Cult” Next Term to Be Banned?

Featured image above: Media as weapon: Angry Chinese man accusing woman after reading about cult in a newspaper. Illustration: Grok xAI, 25th May 2025.

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