Global press freedoms were at an “all-time low,” Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said in its annual ranking report on Friday, particularly noting a deterioration under US President Donald Trump.
“More than half of the world’s population lives in countries with a ‘very serious’ situation,” the France-based, non-profit organization said in its report, released ahead of International Press Freedom Day.
RSF said its main index has fallen to its lowest-ever level in the 23 years that it has been tracking press freedom.
The rankings are made by experts after considering the number of violent incidents involving journalists in each country, as well as other relevant data. They assess the situation in a country or territory in five categories: politics, law, economy, socio-culture and security.
What did RSF say about press freedom in the US?
RSF noted that the situation in the US has worsened since Trump took office in January.
“In the United States, Donald Trump’s second term as president has led to an alarming deterioration in press freedom, indicative of an authoritarian shift in government,” RSF said.
“His administration has weaponized institutions, cut support for independent media, and sidelined reporters.”
The media watchdog referred to his administration cutting funding for state-funded broadcasters such as Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), as well as US foreign development aid that assisted media outlets overseas.
On Friday, Trump announced an executive order cutting funding to public news outlets NPR and PBS, calling them biased. He also said he was considering taking legal action against The New York Times.
The US fell two places from 2024 to the 57th spot behind Sierra Leone in West Africa. The report said vast regions of the US were turning into “news deserts.”
“When journalists are impoverished, they no longer have the means to resist the enemies of the press — those who champion disinformation and propaganda,” RSF Editorial Director Anne Bocande said in a statement.
Online advertising rose to $247.3 billion (roughly €218 billion) in 2024, but a major chunk of it was going to tech giants such as Meta, Google and Amazon rather than news organizations, RSF said.
Germany falls below top 10 in ranking ‘
The report noted that Europe was the region in the world where journalists enjoyed the most freedom, with China, North Korea and Eritrea as the bottom three out of 180 countries.
RSF Managing Director Anja Osterhaus said, “more than half of the world’s population now lives in countries where we categorize the press freedom situation as very serious. Independent journalism is a thorn in the side of autocrats.”
Norway topped the global rankings for the ninth year in a row, followed by Estonia and the Netherlands.
The situation was rated as “good” only in seven countries, all of which lie in Europe.
Germany, which was in the 10th place last year, dropped to the 11th spot. RSF owed the drop to an “increasingly hostile working environment for media professionals in Germany, particularly due to attacks from the far right.”
The report said German journalists also faced difficulties when reporting on the conflict in the Middle East.
The report also highlighted the plight of Palestinian journalists reporting on Israel’s attacks on Gaza.
“In Gaza, the Israeli army has destroyed newsrooms, killed nearly 200 journalists and imposed a total blockade on the strip for over 18 months,” it said.
Israel itself fell 11 places to the 112th position, and “continues to repress its own news media,” the report read.
