The map of press freedom in the world is stained red. The rise of disinformation and artificial intelligence, which are gaining more and more weight through official propaganda campaigns that make it difficult to discern the truth from the false, has become a growing difficulty for press freedom in the world, according to the report. published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
In its 2023 annual ranking, which assesses the situation in 180 countries, released on World Press Freedom Day, RSF highlights an unprecedented global setback, with only three out of ten countries with a “satisfactory” situation. “. Of the total number of countries analysed, 31 consider press freedom to be in a “very serious” situation, the lowest ranking in the report, compared to 21 just two years ago.
Within the general volatility, the general secretary of RSF, Christophe Deloire, highlighted the rise of 18 places in Brazil (position 92), linked to the departure from power of the previous president, the far-right Jair Bolsonaro, or the fall of 31 in Senegal , which led the classification in Africa. “The instability is the effect of a growing aggressiveness of power in many countries against journalists in social networks and in the physical world,” added Deloire, who highlighted the fragility of Latin America, a region with an equivalent murder rate of informants that of countries at war.
RSF also points to disinformation campaigns, which they define as an “industry of deception.” In this context, the development of generative Artificial Intelligence “has shaken the already fragile universe of the media” along with attitudes such as that of the new owner of Twitter, Elon Musk, who “has taken an arbitrary and censorship logic to the extreme.” , which reveals “the shifting sands” in which journalism moves.
A battlefield, that of disinformation, which has been nourished by the war in Ukraine, where Russia “launched a media arsenal in record time” to disseminate its official discourse, which has caused that country to fall nine positions in the RSF ranking, which places it at 164. Since the start of the war, the Kremlin has stepped up its campaign of harassment of critical media, forcing the vast majority to close or publish from exile. The persecution of journalists claimed its latest victim last month, with the arrest of American journalist for the Wall Street Journal Evan Gershkovich accused of “espionage.” The war is also dragging Ukraine, where practicing the profession of journalist has never been so difficult.
The situation of press freedom is “very serious” in 31 countries -an unprecedented figure-, “difficult” in 42, “problematic” in 55, “good” in 44 (almost all in Europe) and only “very good”. in 8. That is, the conditions for practicing journalism are adverse in 7 out of 10 countries in the world.
Norway tops the list for the seventh consecutive year, followed by Ireland, which has benefited from pushback from Finland, where two journalists were convicted of revealing state secrets, and Sweden, which has been penalized by a new law making confidentiality more difficult. of the sources.
More stable is the lower part of a classification that, as has been traditional, closes North Korea, ahead of China, the largest prison for journalists in the world and one of the main propaganda factories. Third from below would be Vietnam, which has stepped up the persecution of independent reporters and commentators.
Among the main falls, the United States stands out, where despite the good will of the President’s Administration, Joe Biden, the murder of two journalists has negatively impacted its positioning (45).
The concentration of media in the hands of oligarchs close to the ultranationalist government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in India and the increasing repression of journalists on the eve of the May 14 elections in Turkey (the democracy with the most imprisoned journalists in the world) have brought down those two countries to the “very serious” situation zone, while Iran continues its decline marked by the regime’s response to the protests that followed the death of the young Mahsa Amini.
Important falls also in Tunisia, with President Kais Saied “increasingly authoritarian” and Peru (which lost 33 places to 110), “where journalists pay the price of persistent instability.”
The good news comes from countries like Australia, which has gained 12 places, or Malaysia, which has progressed 40. The report also warns of the situation in Germany, which has lost five places in a “record” year in violent acts and arrests of journalists. . For its part, Greece, where journalists have been spied on by intelligence services and powerful spy programs, remains the only EU country where the situation is “problematic”, ranking 107th,
Freedom of the press in Spain has fallen four points to occupy 36th place, mainly due to job insecurity and unfavorable expectations regarding the repeal of the most controversial and harmful articles of the “Gag Law” for freedom of information.