image source, Anadolu (via Getty)
- author, tom mcarthur
- role, bbc news
Political attacks against journalists are on the rise around the world, according to Reporters Without Borders’ annual World Press Freedom Index.
These attacks include detaining journalists, spreading misinformation, and suppressing independent voices.
The group says governments are failing to protect journalism as more than half of the world’s population will vote in 2024.
The report comes as the BBC warns that more than 300 journalists are currently working in exile from their home countries amid intensifying attacks on their reporting.
“Some political groups incite hatred and distrust towards journalists by insulting, discrediting and threatening them,” the group, known by its French acronym RSF, said in a statement.
RSF’s index ranks 180 countries on the ability of journalists to do their work without interference or intimidation.
Norway maintains its top spot, while the “information desert” of Eritrea replaces last year’s bottom-ranked country, North Korea, in last place. Also included in the bottom 10 are China, Iran, Afghanistan, and Syria.
Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, Finland, Estonia, Portugal, Ireland, Switzerland and Germany rounded out the top 10.
The UK rose three places to 23rd place, with RSF criticizing News UK, Reach Plc and Daily Mail and General Trust for their dominant roles in the market.
Authoritarian regimes across the Middle East are “increasingly aggressive” in tightening their grip on news and information, the report said.
According to the RSF report, four of the world’s largest prisons for journalists – Israel, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Iran – remain in the region and continue to detain journalists.
According to RSF, at least 100 journalists were killed in Gaza between October 7, 2023 and May 1, 2024.
The United States (55th) fell 10 places ahead of the election due to an increase in attacks on journalists by political actors.
The report also criticized the “highly concentrated” model of media ownership in the United States, adding that “many of the companies acquiring American media appear to be prioritizing profits over public interest journalism.”
In Russia (162nd), more than 1,500 journalists have fled the country since its illegal invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and RSF says the country continues its “crusade” against journalism.
The report comes as the number of BBC World Service journalists forced into exile has doubled since 2020, reflecting a crackdown on reporting in Russia, Afghanistan and Ethiopia. Many face imprisonment, death threats, and harassment.
RSF also warned of the increasing use of generative artificial intelligence and deepfakes, calling their use in spreading disinformation “alarming”.
