Context

According to Reporters Without Borders (RSF for Reporters sans Frontières), India’s position in the World Press Freedom Index declined from 36.62 to 31.28.

World Press Freedom Index

The World Press Freedom Index is compiled by RSF annually assessing the ability of journalists to work and report freely and independently.

• India’s Ranking in World Press Freedom Index 2024: India’s rank improved from 161 in 2023 to 159 in 2024. However, this rise was primarily due to other countries slipping in their rankings.
  • Scores for India decreased in all categories except for the security indicator in the press freedom questionnaire, which encompasses political context, legal framework, economic context, sociocultural context, and security.
• Ranking of Indian Neighbors: Pakistan ranked 152, Sri Lanka at 15, Nepal at 74 and Maldives at 106. 
  • Afghanistan is at 178, Bangladesh at 165, and Myanmar at 171.
• Asia-Pacific Region: It is the world’s second most difficult region for practicing journalism.
  • Five countries are among the world’s ten most dangerous countries for journalism. Myanmar (171st), China (172nd), North Korea (177th), Vietnam (174th) and Afghanistan (178th). 
• Middle East and North Africa: The situation is “very serious” in nearly half of the countries. 
  • The United Arab Emirates joins the eight other countries in the red zone on the map: Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Palestine, Iraq, Bahrain, Syria and Egypt. 
  • Palestine, occupied and under bombardment by the Israeli army, and the deadliest country for journalists, is at the bottom of the Index. 
• Countries with Good Press Freedom: The countries where press freedom is “good” are all in Europe, and more specifically within the European Union, which has adopted its first media freedom law (EMFA). 
  • Norway(1st) is followed by Denmark (2nd) and Sweden (3rd).

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Concern Raised by the World Press Freedom Index 2024

• Global Press Freedoms Under Threat: Political authorities, who are supposed to safeguard press freedom, are increasingly becoming threats to it. 
  • Press freedoms have experienced a decline, with an average decrease of 7.6 points globally.
• Use of AI for Election Manipulation: Increasing use of artificial intelligence(AI) is raising concerns, particularly its application in propagating disinformation for political motives. 
  • Deep Fakes are now being used to influence the course of elections.