“I may not agree with what you have to say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” The words above have been quoted time and again by various eminent leaders all around through many ages. Largely implying the words of Voltaire hold great significance in executing the essence of freedom and free speech.
On Wednesday, the worldly acclaimed media watchdog Reporters Without Borders published its annual World Press Freedom Index. According to this report, India trickled down to 161 on the World Press Freedom Index, slipping 11 places from last year. The stark deterioration in press freedom ranking has sparked immense concern from media associations and the entire journalism industry.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
Reporters Without Borders is an independent NGO which is headquartered in Paris. They work towards defending press freedom worldwide and hold the freedom of information in great regard, considering it to be a fundamental democratic and human right. Journalism is a medium to evoke public awareness of human rights. With a vigilant set of public, positive changes in government policies are bound to happen. Reporters Without Borders have bureaus in ten world cities and a network of correspondents in 130 countries. Holding a consultative status with the United Nations, UNESCO, the Council of Europe, and the International Organisation of the Francophonie, RSF aims to shape journalism standards and drive influence at every media strata. The World Press Freedom Index is an organisation initiative that aims to promote press freedom and freedom of information.
India’s Press Freedom Ranking 2023
Out of the 180 countries that were assessed this year, India ranked 161 in the World Press Freedom Index-2023, slumping by 11 ranks. India has faced a downslide in the RSF ranking for the second time in a row. The World Press Freedom Index considers five variables: the Political, Economic, Legislative, Social, and Security indicators, scores of the same are assessed, and countries are ranked accordingly. The security indicator of the country is gravely concerning, as it has slipped down to 172, which implies that just eight countries are behind us.
Amongst the South Asian region, India has been deemed one of the worst-performing countries. With Bangladesh at just a slightly below ranking of 163, Pakistan is still ahead of us at 150, India’s rank in 2022. The censorship of the Taliban government is no secret to the world, yet Afghanistan has outperformed India in terms of press freedom, ranked at 152. Bhutan and Sri Lanka are well ahead of us, with a rank of 90 and 135, respectively.
In the previous year, press freedom in India was marked as “problematic”; in the current year, it has gone down to “very bad”. The reports said that two more countries besides India had faced a demotion from “problematic” to “very bad”, that includes Tajikistan and Turkey. Consecutively for the seventh time, Norway has been ranked as 1st in press freedom, with Ireland placed 2nd and Denmark as 3rd.
The report has stated the reason for such a huge lapse in rank in the largest democracy of the world could be on account increasing detention of media journalists in the country. Since January 1, 2023, one journalist has been killed, and 10 others have been detained, as the report states. The control of media outlets in the hands of oligarchs with close connection to political leaders has been deemed another reason for restricting the free flow of information. Online harassment and threats to journalists are also reportedly increasing alarmingly.
The report curated by RSF considers various factors of media security, independence, etc. The reports collated by the organization are then further referred by journalists, policymakers and civil society groups worldwide to assess the changing trends and propagate global press freedom.
