Reporters Without Borders included tech conglomerates Alphabet and Meta in its 2026 Press Freedom Predators List, citing the economic pressure their market dominance exerts on independent journalism.
According to a report by the Forum on Information and Democracy, cited by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Meta, Alphabet, and Amazon are projected to capture nearly 60 percent of global advertising expenditure excluding China in 2026, depriving traditional news organizations of essential funding.
The 2026 track record highlights a sharp decline in web traffic to media outlets due to Google AI Overviews and notes concerns over Meta’s attempts to harvest publisher content to train generative artificial intelligence models.
The 2026 list profiles 33 actors, including US President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Chinese President Xi Jinping, for tactics ranging from digital manipulation and legal harassment to physical intimidation of journalists.