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A aggressive smear campaign, attributed to sectors close to the Government and orchestrated through fake chats and attacks on social networks to discredit the entity and its members, denounced the Argentine Journalism Forum (Fopea), which for more than two decades has been defending freedom of expression and promoting independent, quality journalism.
The starting point of this unusual offensive, which does not recognize precedents in the 40 years of democracy, was the project disseminated by the Ministry of Human Capital to promote mandatory registration for the practice of journalism, an old initiative that violates constitutional principles and that even some sectors of the Government evaluated as a consequence of “an involuntary error.”
Close to the Fopea authorities they attributed the attacks to “a operation of discredit and disinformation of digital operators linked to the Government, who received the accompaniment” of the president Javier Milei. Indeed, the leader of La Libertad Avanza expressed his support on social media for the statements against the entity representing independent journalism.
Created 21 years ago, among other missions, Fopea promotes excellence and ethics in Argentine journalism and the defense of the independent press. Your president is Paula Moreno Roman, The board of directors is joined by journalists with proven track records and commitment to freedom of expression, such as Claudio Jacquelin, Denise Rabin, Alejandra Conti, Hugo Alconada Mon, Ezequiel Franco, Germán de los Santos, Fernando Stanich, Alicia Miller and Sofía Fernández, among others. Its executive director is Amelia Corazza.
The controversy arose on Wednesday afternoon, when the public was watching the final political negotiations on the debate over the Ley Bases and the fiscal package in the Chamber of Deputies.
Unaware of this vital issue for the Government, at 7:32 p.m. this Wednesday, the ministry that leads Sandra Pettovello, which in recent months has been involved in the scandal over the lack of food distribution to vulnerable populations, published the announcement of the Mandatory registration of the country’s journalistsin a post that was deleted a few hours later without an official retraction.
The next morningIn a statement, Fopea condemned “the association of journalists promoted by the Government” and He considered that “it is an obsolete practice and illegitimate to the right to freedom of expression.” He recalled that the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) issued an Advisory Opinion in 1985, in which it defined the initiative as an “illegitimate restriction on the universal right to freedom of expression.” Similar proposals have historically been criticized in the country as “an unacceptable control” of the freedoms of the press and expression.
At noon, the Secretary of Media of the Nation, Eduardo Serenellini, called the president of Fopea to deny the measure which had been announced and then removed from the official site. He tried to relativize the controversy over the mandatory membership of journalists, by pointing out that the registration process ““It is not and will not be obligatory.” for the practice of journalism.
That same afternoon, intense activity was reflected on social networks regarding an alleged fake dialogue leak attributed to Fopea in a non-existent WhatsApp group. The journalistic organization observed with distrust a post published, at 5:25 p.m., on the X account of @GordonDan_, identified with the Communication scheme for Freedom Advances, in which a debate is raised that according to the Fopea authorities never existed, regarding a possible statement on an attack suffered by the influencer libertarian Mariano Perez, at a demonstration in front of Congress
“A chat from the Argentine Journalism Forum (Fopea) was leaked about the attack that journalist Mariano Pérez suffered today at the Islamic Pole march. These are the ones who later make statements every time Adorni paints their faces..,” the post said.
In Fopea they warned that, from that moment, “an attack of denigration, insults and questioning through a hashtag which in a matter of minutes was trending on X Argentina. President Milei himself joined the attacks on X, by reposting messages from tweeters close to the La Libertad Avanza space, such as those of @TommyShelby_30 and @TraductorTeAma.
“Fopea is a disgrace,” wrote the President, retweeting a message from the former presidential advisor Antonio Aracre and cast a shadow of doubt over the journalistic organization.
A few hours later, Fopea warned in a statement on the falsity of the alleged leak and the stigmatization campaign, attributed to militants and armies of trolls.
“The chats circulating about Fopea are false. That conversation never existed. Its dissemination has the clear intention of discrediting this organization.
“The Argentine Journalism Forum (Fopea) condemns the defamation campaign promoted on social networks, in which an alleged dialogue between members of this organization is reproduced. That dialogue is false. That conversation never existed. Therefore, its dissemination, attributing responsibility to Fopea, has the clear intention of discrediting this organization,” the institution said. As a matter of color, he revealed that the false dialogue includes a logo that the organization stopped using several years ago.
The entity went beyond the specific case and reported that it is far from being an isolated event. “Enrolls in a methodology implemented by authoritarian governments in the Americas, “that seek to undermine the function that the press and independent journalism play in the sustainability of democracies,” he warned, anticipating that he will denounce “the sinister and vile smear campaign orchestrated against them.”
This Friday morning, the president of Fopea, Paula Moreno Roman, spoke about the A series of attacks on the free press in an interview with journalist Marcelo Longobardi, on Radio Rivadavia, and his X profile was attacked by users and pro-government digital operators, they denounced in the institution.
At 11:33, President Milei tweeted an excerpt from the spokesman’s conference Manuel Adorni with the hashtag #FOPEACómplice, which was later replicated by several officials and libertarian leaders, including the national representative Lilia Lemoinein a trend that spread to Instagram. Adorni had referred to the aggression suffered by the youtuber Pérez, in an attempt to present it as an attack on the press.
At Fopea, meanwhile, they are concerned about President Milei’s persistent validation of expressions considered offensive and orchestrated by sectors close to power to discredit independent journalism.
