{
  "id": 14909305,
  "title": "AI threatens democracy. But we are not powerless: here’s how to fight back | Carine Fouteau",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/16/ai-threatens-democracy-but-we-are-not-powerless-heres-how-to-fight",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-10-16T07:49:45.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Guardian Business",
    "slug": "guardian-business",
    "url": "https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/oct/16/ai-existential-threat-real-journalism-democracy-resistance"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Big tech companies, such as OpenAI and Microsoft, are causing a crisis of information and posing an immense threat to democracy, according to Carine Fouteau, president and publishing director of French investigative news outlet Mediapart. They harvest personal data, manipulate public opinion, destroy jobs, infringe civil liberties, and damage the environment. The boundary between truth and falsehood has vanished with the rise of artificial intelligence, making it essential to reaffirm the role of public-interest journalism. AI companies plunder news outlets without permission or compensation, siphoning off audiences and revenue from journalism. While AI-generated content appears like a news article, it is merely a logical assembly of words that often produces falsehoods, distorts facts, and misinterprets information. Real journalism is the product of expertise guided by ethical standards, involving human effort in the field, cross-referencing, verifying, and establishing facts. AI lacks the ability to uncover facts that certain parties prefer to hide or suppress. Quality journalism comes at a high price, as some costs cannot be quantified, such as journalists reporting from war zones who risk their lives. Mediapart recently experienced cyber-harassment and death threats against its editorial team due to an investigation into a far-right party leader. Media outlets are accountable for the information they publish, and they answer to courts and readers. AI companies only answer to their shareholders and refuse to vouch for the reliability of their conversational agents to avoid legal liability. If this pillaging continues, it will result in the destruction of journalism, which is dangerous not only for news publishers but for all of us. To prevent this, collective action is necessary, including legal action to uphold the rights of the press and the public.",
  "summary": "Tech platforms pillage public-interest journalism for profit. But we have leverage as they sow the seeds of their own downfall Carine Fouteau is president and publishing director of the French investigative news outlet Mediapart Big tech companies pose an immeasurable threat: socially, politically, militarily and ecologically. They are also causing a profound crisis of information. The tools they…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}