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Journalism on the Frontline: The Life and Death of Victoria Roshchyna
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TikTok ban: An Act of Market Control, Not Freedom

The Supreme Court of the United States met on Friday the 10th of January to discuss the imminent TikTok ban in the United States, and it's looking like the Supreme Court is going to uphold the ban. This means that TikTok will have to be sold off to an American company or be banned from America.


Facebook and Tiktok fighting each other. Felt design

The United States has long prided itself on being a champion of innovation and free-market competition. Yet, the recent push to ban TikTok exposes a different reality. While the ban is often framed as a measure to protect American "freedoms," closer scrutiny reveals that the motivations behind it are less about safeguarding national security or personal liberty and more about protecting the dominance of American tech giants who have failed to create a competing product.


The National Security Argument: A Convenient Scapegoat

The primary justification for the TikTok ban centres on national security concerns. Critics argue that TikTok’s ownership by a Chinese company poses risks of data misuse or surveillance by the Chinese government. While these concerns warrant investigation, the evidence presented so far has been largely speculative. Moreover, TikTok has taken significant steps to address these concerns, such as pledging to store U.S. user data domestically and offering unprecedented transparency in its operations.


In contrast, American tech companies, including Facebook and Google, have faced numerous scandals over data breaches and misuse, yet these incidents rarely spark discussions of bans. This double standard suggests that the TikTok ban isn’t truly about protecting users’ data but about something far more self-serving: market control.


A Failure to Innovate: American Companies’ Struggle to Compete

Tiktok logo in a 3d blog with a pink background

TikTok’s meteoric rise exposed a glaring weakness in American tech innovation. Despite their immense resources and influence, companies like Meta (formerly Facebook), Google, and Snapchat have failed to develop a platform that resonates with younger audiences in the same way TikTok does. Meta’s Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts, both designed to mimic TikTok’s short-form video format, have not captured the same cultural zeitgeist or user engagement.


Rather than innovating, these companies have leaned heavily on their lobbying power to stifle competition. The push to ban TikTok can be seen as an attempt to remove a superior competitor from the market, allowing American platforms to reclaim dominance without addressing their own shortcomings. This approach not only stifles competition but also sets a dangerous precedent for using regulatory measures to quash innovative foreign products rather than improving domestic ones.


The Hypocrisy of “Freedom”

American lawmakers have framed the TikTok ban as a measure to protect citizens' freedoms, yet the ban itself directly contradicts the principles of choice and access that underpin those freedoms. TikTok’s success is driven by millions of Americans who have chosen to use the app, finding value in its unique algorithm, diverse content, and engaging user experience. Restricting access to the platform undermines these users’ autonomy, suggesting that their freedoms are secondary to corporate interests.


Furthermore, the United States’ tech landscape is already dominated by monopolies. Companies like Meta, Google, and Amazon control vast swaths of the internet, often using their market power to squash smaller competitors. The TikTok ban does not address this monopolistic behaviour; instead, it reinforces it by eliminating a rare instance of genuine competition in the social media space.


A Global Perspective: The Irony of “Protection”

The ban also highlights a broader irony. For years, American tech companies have championed global free markets, often entering foreign countries and out-competing local businesses. Yet when faced with competition from a foreign company on their own turf, the response has been to cry foul rather than adapt.


This hypocrisy weakens America’s global standing as a proponent of innovation and fair competition. Instead of banning TikTok, the United States could use this moment to examine why its own companies failed to create a comparable product and what can be done to foster domestic innovation.


The Real Solution: Compete, Don’t Constrain

If the goal is to protect American freedoms and ensure data security, a TikTok ban is a shortsighted solution. Instead, lawmakers should focus on regulating data privacy across all platforms, domestic and foreign, to ensure robust protections for users. Simultaneously, the tech industry should be incentivised to innovate rather than rely on protectionist policies.


TikTok’s popularity is a testament to its ability to connect with users in ways that American platforms have failed to replicate. Banning the app does not solve this problem; it simply papers over it. To truly champion freedom, the United States must allow competition to flourish, even when it means facing uncomfortable truths about its own shortcomings.



The push to ban TikTok is less about protecting American freedoms and more about protecting American monopolies. Framed as a national security issue, the campaign against TikTok is ultimately an admission that American tech giants have failed to keep up with their global counterparts. If the U.S. truly values innovation and freedom, it must resist the urge to eliminate competition through regulation and instead focus on fostering a market where the best product, not the most powerful company, wins.

Journalism on the Frontline: The Life and Death of Victoria Roshchyna

Journalism on the Frontline: The Life and Death of Victoria Roshchyna

6 May 2025

Paul Francis

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In an age where truth is often a casualty of war, Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchyna stood as a defiant exception. A fearless voice amidst chaos, her commitment to reporting from the frontlines of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine cost her everything—including, ultimately, her life.


Back view of a person wearing a "PRESS" vest walking through rubble in a war-torn city, with a somber, tense mood.
AI image of Press officer in a Warzone

A Promising Voice from Zaporizhzhia

Born in 1996 in the industrial city of Zaporizhzhia, Victoria Roshchyna began her journalistic career young, covering courts and crime as a teenager. But it was the seismic shock of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 that reshaped her path—and gave rise to some of the most courageous journalism of the war.


Working with outlets such as Hromadske, Ukrainska Pravda, and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Roshchyna became known for going where few dared. She reported from the besieged city of Mariupol, from occupied territories, and from communities terrorised by Russian shelling. Her focus wasn’t just on bombs and battle lines, but on the people living through them.


Victoria Roshchyna First Detention - and Defiant Return

In March 2022, Roshchyna was detained by Russian forces while reporting in Berdiansk, southeastern Ukraine. She was held for 10 days, subjected to interrogation, and coerced into recording a video thanking her captors. The experience would shake many—but not Victoria.

She published her harrowing account of that detention, then returned to the front. Later that year, she was awarded the International Women’s Media Foundation’s Courage in Journalism Award—an honour she declined to collect in person, choosing instead to continue her work in the field.


Disappearance in Occupied Territory

On August 3, 2023, Roshchyna vanished while investigating alleged secret detention facilities near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant—an area under Russian control. For months, her family and colleagues pleaded for answers. Russian authorities refused to confirm her whereabouts until April 2024.


By then, it was too late.


Torture and Tragedy

According to official statements, Roshchyna died on September 19, 2024, during a transfer to Moscow, allegedly as part of a prisoner exchange. But the circumstances of her death—and the condition of her body—told a far more disturbing story.


Her remains were returned to Ukraine months later, mislabelled as those of an “unidentified male.” Forensic experts discovered her body bore signs of extreme torture: broken bones, electrocution marks, and the removal of her eyes, brain, and larynx—presumably to hide evidence of how she died.


She had been held in Penal Colony No. 77 in Berdiansk, and later transferred to SIZO-2, the notorious pre-trial detention centre in Taganrog. Investigations by human rights groups have linked both sites to systemic torture, starvation, and abuse of Ukrainian detainees.


A Chilling Pattern

Roshchyna’s death fits a grim pattern of violence against journalists in occupied Ukraine. Her case is a searing indictment of how the Kremlin seeks not only to suppress information—but to punish those brave enough to uncover it.


Her story also speaks to a broader crisis: the dangers facing reporters who challenge authoritarian narratives, especially women. Despite the personal risk, Roshchyna refused to be silenced. And for that, she paid the ultimate price.


Remembering Victoria

Tributes have poured in from around the world, honouring Roshchyna as a symbol of fearless journalism. But perhaps the most enduring tribute is the legacy of her reporting—accounts that give voice to civilians under occupation, to families ripped apart, and to lives lived under threat.


Her colleagues remember her as warm, sharp-witted, and deeply committed to the truth. “She wanted to show the human face of war,” one wrote. “And she never stopped trying.”

In remembering Victoria Roshchyna, we are reminded of the essential—and dangerous—role of journalism in conflict. Her story must not be forgotten. Her work must continue.




Citations and Sources

  1. The Guardian – ‘Numerous signs of torture’: a Ukrainian journalist's detention and death in Russian prisonhttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/29/viktoriia-roshchyna-ukrainian-journalist-death-russian-prison

  2. The Washington Post – Russia’s detention of civilians: secret prisons and torturehttps://www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/2025/russia-detention-ukraine-civilians-occupation

  3. Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) – Ukrainian Journalist Missing In Russian-Occupied Area Has Been Detained, Relatives Sayhttps://www.rferl.org/a/ukrainian-journalist-roshchyna-missing-russia-detention/

  4. Hromadske International – Victoria Roshchyna’s First-Person Account of Her 2022 Detentionhttps://en.hromadske.ua/posts/journalist-victoria-roshchyna-released-from-captivity

  5. International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) – Courage in Journalism Award: Victoria Roshchyna (2022)https://www.iwmf.org/community/victoria-roshchyna/

  6. New York Post – Body of Ukrainian journalist returned with signs of torturehttps://nypost.com/2025/04/29/world-news/body-of-ukrainian-journalist-kidnapped-by-russia-returned-with-eyes-brain-removed-likely-to-hide-signs-of-torture-report

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