Reporters Without Borders (RSF) warned Thursday of a deterioration in press freedom on a global scale over the past 25 years. If journalists are still killed or imprisoned because of their work, economic, political and legal pressures are intensifying, according to the NGO. The United States, against a backdrop of repeated attacks from Donald Trump, fell to 64th in the world rankings.

Published on: 04/30/2026 - 07:44 Modified on: 04/30/2026 - 07:44

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A clear decline in the right to information. Press freedom has reached its lowest level in a quarter of a century, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) warned on Thursday April 30, pointing to a general deterioration, from the United States where Donald Trump's attacks are "systematic" to Saudi Arabia which executed a journalist in 2025.

"For the first time in the history" of this annual ranking created in 2002, "more than half of the world's countries (94) are in a 'difficult' or 'very serious' situation, whereas they were only a tiny minority (13.7%) in 2002", writes RSF, which has five levels on its scale, from "very serious" to "good".

See alsoIn the United States, public media in the sights of the authorities

At the same time, the rate of people living in a country with a "good" press freedom situation has plunged from 20% to "less than 1%."

Only seven countries in northern Europe, led by Norway, are in this category. France ranks 25th (“rather good situation”). “In 25 years, the average score of all the countries studied has never been so low,” adds the organization.

“Economic, political, legal” pressures

The United States, in a "problematic situation", lost seven places and occupied 64th place, between Botswana and Panama. Beyond the Republican president's attacks on the press - "a systematic practice" - this also resulted in the detention and then expulsion of Salvadoran journalist Mario Guevara, who denounced the arrests of migrants in the United States, or the drastic reduction in funding for American foreign broadcasting.

“The attacks against journalists are changing. There are always journalists murdered, always journalists in prison, but the pressures are also economic, political, legal,” Anne Bocandé, editorial director of RSF, told AFP.

If the decline can be explained by armed conflicts, the organization also points to the hardening of political regimes in recent years.

To (re)read RSF's 2025 report: 67 journalists killed, almost half by the Israeli army in Gaza

RSF highlights the spectacular falls of El Salvador (143rd), which has lost 105 places since 2014 and the launch of a war against the “maras” criminal gangs, or Georgia (135th), which has fallen 75 places since 2020 due to an “acceleration of repression”.

The biggest drop in 2026 is attributed to Niger (120th, -37 places), symbol of "the deterioration of press freedom in the Sahel for several years", between "attacks by armed groups and (the) juntas in power", writes RSF.

“Certain countries were flagships of press freedom but it has deteriorated profoundly with the arrival of military regimes like in Mali (121st) or Burkina Faso (110th),” adds Anne Bocandé.

A columnist executed by Riyadh

Saudi Arabia (176th, -14 places), where the columnist Turki al-Jasser was executed in June by the State, "a unique event in the world", rubs shoulders with Russia, Iran and China at the very end of the ranking, closed by Eritrea (180th).

Also read: Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil killed by Israeli strike in southern Lebanon

On the other hand, Syria (141st) jumped 36 places after the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime.

Among the five RSF measurement criteria, it is the legal framework indicator that has deteriorated the most in 2025.

“National security laws, against terrorism for example, or to protect defense secrets, increasingly restrict the field of journalism. Russia is champion in this area, but the impact is also felt even in democracies,” underlines Anne Bocandé.

Intimidation

Another weapon, that of “SLAPP procedures”, in other words legal proceedings for defamation, economic denigration or dissemination of false news, which aim to intimidate journalists.

A global phenomenon, illustrated in Guatemala by the case of the founder of El Periodico, José Rubén Zamora, sentenced to several years in prison after his investigations into political corruption. But RSF also denounced this trend in France in a recent study on local media.

“The laws are increasingly criminalizing journalists, when they should be protecting them,” notes the editorial director of the organization.

Nevertheless, "tools exist", she adds, citing the European Commission's regulation on freedom in the media ("European Media Freedom Act"), which came into force in 2025, or the European directive against SLAPP procedures.

With AFP

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