Press freedom at lowest level in 25 years amid growing authoritarian pressure

Press freedom around the world is at its lowest ebb in a generation, according to an influential annual index that highlights growing authoritarian pressure on the media.

The average score for the 180 countries assessed by the World Press Freedom Index, compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), was the lowest in the index’s 25-year history.

For the first time, more than half of all countries were placed in the “difficult” or “very serious” categories for press freedom.

While a fifth of the global population lived in a country where press freedom was categorised as “good” in 2002, that has now fallen to less than 1% of the world’s population.

The study found that a dramatic expansion of “restrictive legal arsenals” used by governments around the world, particularly in their use of national security laws, was impinging on the rights of the free press.

RSF said press freedom had been declining over the 25-year period its index covered. It found declines in many democratic countries, warning that journalism was being “increasingly criminalised”.

It said political hostility to the press was combining with an increasingly difficult business model for media outlets, leading to established journalism “being asphyxiated”.

Donald Trump’s repeated attacks on the press and journalists were described as a “systematic policy”, pushing the US down to 64th place in the index and fuelling a decline across the American continents.

Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin was described as “a specialist in using laws designed to combat terrorism, separatism and extremism to restrict press freedom”. As of this month, it said Russia held 48 journalists behind bars.

Anne Bocandé, the group’s editorial director, said the findings posed a simple question. “How much longer will we tolerate the suffocation of journalism, the systematic obstruction of reporters and the continued erosion of press freedom?” she said.

“Authoritarian states, complicit or incompetent political powers, predatory economic actors and under-regulated online platforms are directly and overwhelmingly responsible for the global decline in press freedom.

“Given this context, inaction is a form of endorsement. It’s no longer enough just to state principles — effective measures to protect journalists are essential and must be seen as a catalyst for change. This starts with ending the criminalisation of journalism: the misuse of national security laws, Slapps [strategic lawsuits against public participation] and the systematic obstruction of those who investigate, expose and name names.”

The survey’s assessment of legal restrictions on the press recorded the biggest decline of any category. Attempts to circumvent press laws or the misuse of emergency legislation were cited in the decline of media freedom in more than 60% of states, including India, Egypt, Israel and Georgia.