{"id":361288,"date":"2026-04-30T13:15:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T05:15:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=361288"},"modified":"2026-04-30T13:15:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T05:15:21","slug":"rsf-press-freedom-under-pressure-as-laws-tighten-worldwide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=361288","title":{"rendered":"RSF: Press freedom under pressure as laws tighten worldwide"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"780\" height=\"520\" src=\"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/md_norwayflag_25012022.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-161140\" srcset=\"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/md_norwayflag_25012022.jpg 780w, http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/md_norwayflag_25012022-300x200.jpg 300w, http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/md_norwayflag_25012022-768x512.jpg 768w, http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/md_norwayflag_25012022-555x370.jpg 555w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px\" \/><figcaption>Norway remained the best country for journalists for the 10th consecutive year in the RSF ranking.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-preformatted\">BERLIN, April 30 (dpa) - More than half of the world's countries and territories now fall into the \"difficult\" or \"very serious\" categories for press freedom for the first time in the 25-year history of the ranking, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said in a report on Thursday.<\/pre>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-preformatted\">Only seven countries are rated as having a \"good\" environment for journalists, together accounting for just 1% of the global population, according to the organization's annual Press Freedom Index.<\/pre>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-preformatted\">RSF said the sharpest global decline this year was in the legal environment, as journalism is increasingly restricted through laws under the pretext of counterterrorism or protecting national security.<\/pre>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-preformatted\">Norway retained its position at the top of the ranking for the tenth consecutive year, followed by countries including the Netherlands and Estonia. At the other end of the scale, Eritrea remained last, with North Korea and China also among the worst performers.<\/pre>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-preformatted\">Syria recorded the most significant improvement, rising from 177th to 141st place following the fall of the Assad government in late 2024 and subsequent political changes. Niger, meanwhile, saw the steepest decline, dropping 37 places to 120th.<\/pre>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-preformatted\">The 19 top-ranked countries were all in Europe. Among those, Germany ranked 14th, down three places from a year earlier, while remaining classified as \"satisfactory.\"&nbsp;<\/pre>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-preformatted\">RSF noted a more hostile working climate for journalists in Germany, including online abuse, threats, defamation campaigns and growing mistrust. It warned that reporters covering sensitive issues, including far-right milieux or the Gaza war, increasingly faced strong pressure, heated public debates and fears of being publicly targeted.<\/pre>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-preformatted\">The index assesses 180 countries and territories based on safety, political context, legal framework, and economic and social conditions affecting media freedom.\n--NNN-dpa<\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BERLIN, April 30 (dpa) &#8211; More than half of the world&#8217;s countries and territories now fall into the &#8220;difficult&#8221; or &#8220;very serious&#8221; categories for press freedom for the first time in the 25-year history of the ranking, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said in a report on Thursday. Only seven countries are rated as having a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":161140,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[213,208,215,209,318,217,296,341],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361288"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/40"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=361288"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361288\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":361309,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361288\/revisions\/361309"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/161140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=361288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=361288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=361288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}