Roma, 30 Apr. (askanews) – According to Reporters Without Borders, press freedom around the world has reached a new low. In its latest report, the World Press Freedom Index 2026, presented in Taipei, we read that for the first time in the 25-year history of the index (RSF), more than half of the world’s countries now fall into the ‘difficult’ or ‘very serious’ categories for press freedom” and that “the average score for all countries and territories in the world has never been lower”. Press freedom is declining in 100 out of 180 countries, amid political pressure growing – we read – increasing authoritarian tendencies and a significantly weakened media market.
Furthermore, the percentage of the world’s population living in a country where the press freedom situation is considered “good” has fallen from 20% to less than 1%. Only seven Northern European countries, led by Norway, fall into this category.
Reporters Without Borders: from the USA to Russia, press freedom is at its lowest in the world
The United States, which had already gone from a “fairly good” situation to a “problematic” one in 2024, the year of re-election of Donald Trumpfell another seven places to 64, the report said. Vladimir Putin’s Russia is in 172nd place.
Italy moves from position 49 to 56. Germany is 14th, France 25th. The worst drop in the ranking in 2026 occurred in Niger, which fell 37 places to 120th place with the military junta in power.
China, Eritrea and North Korea at the bottom of the ranking
Aleksandra Bielakowska, RSF head of Asia-Pacific, said that “the three countries with the worst scores remain the same as last year, namely China, Eritrea and North Koreawithout too many surprises, totalitarian countries in terms of access to freedom of the press, there is no freedom of the press.”
And Cedric Alviani, head of RSF for East Asia, specified: “Freedom of the press does not mean that the media have the special right to do what they want. It does not mean that the owners of the media, or the groups that own the media, have the right to use the media as they wish for their own gain. This is not freedom of the press.”
iO Donna © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED