Russia rose in press freedom rankings, but lost points

Over the year, Russia has risen in the press freedom ranking by two places and now ranks 162 out of 180, as follows from the latest report “Reporters Without Borders”

The rise in the position of Russia, which lost points on all five indicators, ensured a general deterioration in the situation with freedom of speech in the world. This is especially true for the freedom of journalism from political interference: this indicator has decreased by 7.6 points on average worldwide.

“The Russian state continues its crusade against independent journalism,” writes Reporters Without Borders. More than one and a half thousand journalists were forced to leave Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. The media and their employees are labeled “foreign agents” and “undesirable organizations” by the authorities. Journalists continue to be imprisoned, the report says.

Russian repressive methods are used by countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. This contributed to their fall in the rankings over the year. Belarus, where journalists are persecuted under the pretext of fighting extremism, now ranks 167th. Kyrgyzstan, which adopted a law on “foreign agents,” – 120. Georgia, which also adopted a similar law, – 103, having lost 26 positions over the year.

The significant improvement in Ukraine’s position – by 18 lines to 61 – is called a “surprise” by Reporters Without Borders. They note that in Ukraine, on whose territory there is a war, fewer journalists are being killed, and political interference in journalism has decreased (with the exception of the occupied territories). Armenia also improved its position in the ranking by six positions.

The situation with freedom of speech is good in only eight countries – all of them are in Europe. The first three places were occupied by Norway, Denmark and Sweden. In last place are Afghanistan, Syria and Eritrea, where there are no independent media, the president completely controls the information space, and journalists are detained awaiting trial longer than in any other country in the world.