Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan believes press is freer than ever in Armenia, however, he is confident that journalists do not agree with him.
“Not all journalists agree with me, but I can insist on that. However, I believe it is a normal thing that there has to be a kind of tension in relations between the government and the press,” he said during “Shaping the Future of Democracy” discussion on the margins of the World Economic Forum in Davos.
At the same time Pashinyan emphasized that full transparency into public officials and organizations, knowledge in every nuance of their work, might be partly responsible for declining trust in politicians.
Speaking about social media, Pashinyan said the revolution in Armenia was made via social media, and he continues live broadcasts on his Facebook, for which he is sometimes criticized.
He touched upon the problem of fake news and how it can affect the election results.
“When there is majority, the fake news is not a problem. However, when it is a narrow difference between the candidates, it is an issue. It is possible that one or two fake articles affected the results, and it is a big problem,” Pashinyan said.
The PM recalled that Armenia was named a country with free internet, adding that at the same time free internet is a challenge, as it opens a huge field for fake news, and it, of course, affects realities in Armenia and the entire world.
