Media watchdog group Reporters Without Borders warned of declining government support for press freedom when it released its annual world rankings on Friday, singling out Argentina among countries where the situation has deteriorated.
Norway maintained its top position, while Eritrea came in last place, replacing last year’s lowest-ranked country, North Korea.
Among the most significant drops were Afghanistan (which fell 26 places, to 178th), Togo (which fell 43, to 113th) and Ecuador (which fell 30, to 110th).
The bottom 10 include China, Iran, North Korea, Syria and Eritrea.
But the watchdog, known by its French acronym RSF, warned that politicians in several countries were targeting the media.
“Some political groups fuel hatred and distrust towards journalists, insulting, discrediting and threatening them,” said the press watchdog. “Others are orchestrating a takeover of the media ecosystem.”
The document singled out Argentina under newly elected president Javier Milei, who fell 26 places to 66th place, saying his decision to close the public news agency Telam was a “worrying symbolic act.”
He also highlighted Italy under the government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, where a member of her coalition is trying to acquire the AGI news agency.
Respondents in three-quarters of countries (138) told RSF that political actors were frequently involved in disinformation and propaganda, and that this was systematic in 31 countries.
RSF said there was “spectacular mimicry of Russian repressive methods” across Eastern Europe and Central Asia, extending as far as Serbia, “where pro-government media broadcast Russian propaganda and authorities threaten exiled Russian journalists ”.
The most challenging regions continued to be the Middle East and North Africa, where the situation was “very serious” in almost half of the countries, and Qatar became the only country where the situation was not classified as “difficult” or “very serious”.
Now in its 22nd year, the report is based on data collected by RSF on abuses against journalists and on questionnaires sent to professionals, researchers and rights defenders.
reb/er/yad
