Code red for press freedom
“The World Press Freedom Index for 2022 shows that we are in a new era of polarization”, said Thibaut Bruttin, Assistant Director General of Reporters Without Borders, as he presented the new index at the Nobel Peace Center on World Press Freedom Day.
Polarization on two different levels are fueling increased tension, he said:
“In democratic societies, divisions are growing as result of the spread of disinformation, amplified by the way social media functions. At the international level, despotic regimes are taking control of the media and waging propaganda wars against democracies.”
The organization Reporters Without Borders has classified the situation for press freedom in 180 countries, measuring journalists’ possibility to produce and disseminate information to the public independently and safely. The index was presented with the Nobel Peace Prize exhibition about the two journalists Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov as backdrop. They received the prize for their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is, according to the Nobel Committee, “a precondition for democracy and lasting peace”.
Russia and Ukraine moving down on the index
The World press freedom index is a warning of a situation where freedom of expression, democracy and peace is under threat. In a record number of 28 countries, the situation for press freedom is classified as “very bad”.
Russia, the home country of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dmitry Muratov, is one of the 28 – falling from number 150 to 155 on this year’s index. The invasion of Ukraine reflects the international tendency in the index, as the invasion was preceded by a propaganda war, Reporters Without Borders states.
In Ukraine, the difficult security situation for journalists covering the war is reflected in the index. Since the invasion, 7 journalists have been killed in Ukraine, and crimes against media workers are committed every day, Oksana Romaniuk reported. She is Executive Director of the Institute of Mass Information, Reporters Without Borders partner organization in Ukraine and joined the event at the Nobel Peace Center from her shelter, where she has spent the last weeks working to protect journalists covering the war:
“This situation has shown us how important free speech is for democracy. We should join forces to provide journalists working in Ukraine with safety equipment and moral support”, she said.“This situation has shown us how important free speech is for democracy. We should join forces to provide journalists working in Ukraine with safety equipment and moral support”, she said.
"We have seen how dictatorship is afraid of free speech. Dictatorship wants to close every source of information and substitute it with propaganda. "
Polarization in Europe
Many of the democratic states in western Europe are also falling on the index, reflecting the increase in social and political tension.
“Threats and violence against journalists are increasing also in countries with a traditionally high level of media freedom. As we have seen when vaccine sceptics were attacking journalists during street demonstrations in the Netherlands and Italy during Covid, professor Kristin Skare Orgeret from Oslo Metropolitan University said.
The Netherlands are down 22 places on the index, Italy 19.
The Philippines, where Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa live and work, is down 9 places on the Index, to number 147. Norway, Sweden and Denmark are top three, as they were in 2021. But even here, increased online harassment poses an increasing threat to the safety of journalists.
Watch the recorded livestream from World Press freedom Day.
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