RSF Index 2018: Hatred of journalism threatens democracies - Politico

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Press release
                      Information under embargo until April 25, 2018 – 12:01AM EST

      RSF Index 2018: Hatred of journalism threatens democracies
The 2018 World Press Freedom Index, compiled by Reporters Without Borders
(RSF), reflects growing animosity towards journalists. Hostility towards the media,
openly encouraged by political leaders, and the efforts of authoritarian regimes to
export their vision of journalism pose a threat to democracies.

The climate of hatred is steadily more visible in the Index, which evaluates the level of
press freedom in 180 countries each year. Hostility towards the media from political
leaders is no longer limited to authoritarian countries such as Turkey (down two at 157th)
and Egypt (161st), where “media-phobia” is now so pronounced that journalists are
routinely accused of terrorism and all those who don’t offer loyalty are arbitrarily
imprisoned.

More and more democratically-elected leaders no longer see the media as part of
democracy’s essential underpinning, but as an adversary to which they openly display
their aversion. The United States, the country of the First Amendment, has fallen again in
the Index under Donald Trump, this time two places to 45th. A media-bashing enthusiast,
Trump has referred to reporters as “enemies of the people,” the term once used by Joseph
Stalin.

The line separating verbal violence from physical violence is dissolving. In the Philippines
(down six at 133rd), President Rodrigo Duterte not only constantly insults reporters but
has also warned them that they “are not exempted from assassination.” In India (down
two at 138th), hate speech targeting journalists is shared and amplified on social
networks, often by troll armies in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pay. In each of these
countries, at least four journalists were gunned down in cold blood in the space of a year.

Verbal violence from politicians against the media is also on the rise in Europe, although
it is the region that respects press freedom most. In the Czech Republic (down 11 at
34th), President Milos Zeman turned up at a press conference with a fake Kalashnikov
inscribed with the words “for journalists.” In Slovakia, (down ten at 27th), then Prime
Minister Robert Fico called journalists “filthy anti-Slovak prostitutes” and “idiotic hyenas.”
A Slovak reporter, Ján Kuciak, was shot dead in his home in February 2018, just four
months after another European journalist, Daphne Caruana Galizia, was killed by a
targeted car-bombing in Malta (down 18 at 65th).
“The unleashing of hatred towards journalists is one of the worst threats to democracies,”
RSF secretary-general Christophe Deloire said. “Political leaders who fuel loathing for
reporters bear heavy responsibility because they undermine the concept of public debate
based on facts instead of propaganda. To dispute the legitimacy of journalism today is to
play with extremely dangerous political fire.”

Norway and North Korea, first and last again in 2018

In this year’s Index, Norway is first for the second year running, followed—as it was last
year—by Sweden (2nd). Although traditionally respectful of press freedom, the Nordic
countries have also been affected by the overall decline. Undermined by a case
threatening the confidentiality of a journalist’s sources, Finland (down one at 4th) has
fallen for the second year running, surrendering its third place to the Netherlands. At the
other end of the Index, North Korea (180th) is still last.

The Index also reflects the growing influence of “strongmen” and rival models. After
stifling independent voices at home, Vladimir Putin’s Russia (148th) is extending its
propaganda network by means of media outlets such as RT and Sputnik, while Xi
Jinping’s China (176th) is exporting its tightly controlled news and information model in
Asia. Their relentless suppression of criticism and dissent provides support to other
countries near the bottom of the Index such as Vietnam (175th), Turkmenistan (178th)
and Azerbaijan (163rd).

When it’s not despots, it’s war that helps turn countries into news and information black
holes—countries such as Iraq (down two at 160th), which this year joined those at the
very bottom of the Index where the situation is classified as “very bad.” There have never
been so many countries that are coloured black on the press freedom map.

Breakdown of countries by their situation
Colour distribution in 2018

                                            Good (white)
                                            Fairly good (yellow)
                                            Problematic (orange)
                                            Bad (red)
                                            Very bad (black)

Regional indicators worsening
It’s in Europe, the region where press freedom is the safest, that the regional indicator
has worsened most this year. Four of this year’s five biggest falls in the Index are those
of European countries: Malta (down 18 at 65th), Czech Republic (down 11 at 34th), Serbia
(down ten at 76th) and Slovakia (down ten at 27th). The European model’s slow erosion
is continuing (see our regional analysis: Journalists are murdered in Europe as well).

           Regional indicators
Score

                                                 Year

   REGION:
        Africa             Eastern Europe/Central Asia

        Americas           Middle East/North Africa

        Asia-Pacific       EU/Balkans

Ranked second (but more than ten points worse than Europe), the Americas contain a
wide range of situations (see our regional analyses US falls as Canada rises and Mixed
performance in Latin America). Violence and impunity continue to feed fear and self-
censorship in Central America. Mexico (147th) became the world’s second deadliest
country for journalists in 2017 with 11 killed. Thanks to President’s Maduro’s increasingly
authoritarian excesses, Venezuela (143rd) dropped six places, the region’s biggest fall.
On the other hand, Ecuador (92nd) jumped 13 places, the hemisphere’s greatest rise,
because tension between the authorities and privately-owned media abated. In North
America, Donald Trump’s USA slipped another two places while Justin Trudeau’s Canada
rose four and entered the top 20 at 18th place, a level where the situation is classified as
“fairly good.”
Africa came next, with a score that is slightly better than in 2017 but also contained a wide
range of internal variation (see our regional analysis The dangers of reporting in
Africa). Frequent Internet cuts, especially in Cameroon (129th) and Democratic Republic
of Congo (154th), combined with frequent attacks and arrests are the region’s latest forms
of censorship. Mauritania (72nd) suffered the region’s biggest fall (17 places) after
adopting a law under which blasphemy and apostasy are punishable by death even if the
accused repents. But a more promising era for journalists may result from the departure
of three of Africa’s most predatory presidents, in Zimbabwe (up two as 126th), Angola (up
four at 121st) and Gambia, whose 21-place jump to 122nd was Africa’s biggest.

In the Asia-Pacific region, still ranked fourth in the Index, South Korea jumped 20 places
to 43rd, the Index’s second biggest rise, after Moon Jae-In’s election as president turned
the page on a bad decade for press freedom. North Asia’s democracies are struggling to
defend their models against an all-powerful China that shamelessly exports its methods
for silencing all criticism. Cambodia (142nd) seems dangerously inclined to take the same
path as China after closing dozens of independent media outlets and plunging ten places,
one of the biggest falls in the region (see our regional analysis Asia-Pacific democracies
threatened by China’s media control model).

The former Soviet countries and Turkey continue to lead the worldwide decline in press
freedom (see our regional analysis Historic decline in press freedom in ex-Soviet
states, Turkey). Almost two-thirds of the region’s countries are ranked somewhere near
or below the 150th position in the Index and most are continuing to fall. They include
Kyrgyzstan (98th), which registered one of the Index’s biggest falls (nine places) after a
year with a great deal of harassment of the media including astronomic fines for “insulting
the head of state.” In light of such a wretched performance, it is no surprise that the
region’s overall indicator is close to reaching that of the Middle East/North Africa.

According to the indicators used to measure the year-by-year changes, it is the Middle
East/North Africa region that has registered the biggest decline in media freedom (see
our regional analyses Middle East riven by conflicts, political clashes and Journalism
sorely tested in North Africa). The continuing wars in Syria (117th) and Yemen (down
one at 167th) and the terrorism charges still being used in Egypt (161st), Saudi Arabia
(down one at 169th) and Bahrain (down two at 166th) continue to make this the most
difficult and dangerous region for journalists to operate
Published annually by RSF since 2002, the World Press Freedom Index measures the level of
media freedom in 180 countries, including the level of pluralism, media independence, the
environment and self-censorship, the legal framework, transparency, and the quality of the
infrastructure that supports the production of news and information. It does not evaluate
government policy.

The global indicator and the regional indicators are calculated on the basis of the scores
assigned to each country. These country scores are calculated from answers to a questionnaire
in 20 languages that is completed by experts around the world, supported by a qualitative
analysis. The scores and indicators measure constraints and violations, so the higher the figure,
the worse the situation. Because of growing awareness of the Index, it is an extremely useful
advocacy tool.
Press release
                      Information under embargo until April 25, 2018 – 12:01AM EST

                   RSF Index 2018: US falls as Canada rises

Despite having strong constitutional protections to the contrary, the latest World
Press Freedom Index findings on the US and Canada reveal two countries whose
journalists and media workers face constant challenges to the very freedom to
exercise their profession.

The United States’ ranking fell from 43rd to 45th out of 180 countries in Reporters Without
Borders’ (RSF) 2018 World Press Freedom Index, continuing its downward trend in the
first year of Donald J. Trump’s presidency. In contrast, its northern neighbor Canada
gained four places due to steps taken to safeguard the confidentiality of journalists’
sources.

Donald Trump furthers First Amendment decline

In 2017, the 45th President of the United States helped sink the country to 45th place by
labeling the press an “enemy of the American people” in a series of verbal attacks toward
journalists, attempts to block White House access to multiple media outlets, routine use
of the term “fake news” in retaliation for critical reporting, and calling for media outlets’
broadcasting licenses to be revoked. President Trump has routinely singled out news
outlets and individual journalists for their coverage of him, and retweeted several violent
memes targeting CNN.

The violent anti-press rhetoric from the White House has been coupled with an increase
in the number of press freedom violations at the local level as journalists run the risk of
arrest for covering protests or simply attempting to ask public officials questions.
Reporters have even been subject to physical assault while on the job.

Press freedom violations in the country of the First Amendment in fact have become so
frequent of late that RSF joined a coalition of more than two dozen press freedom
organizations to launch the US Press Freedom Tracker in August, which documented 34
arrests of journalists in 2017, the majority while covering protests (find out more on the
tracker).

However, the Trump effect has only served to amplify the disappointing press freedom
climate that predated his presidency. Whistleblowers face prosecution under the
Espionage Act if they leak information of public interest to the press, while there is still no
federal “shield law” guaranteeing reporters’ right to protect their sources. Journalists and
their devices continue to be searched at the US border, while some foreign journalists are
still denied entry into the US after covering sensitive topics like Colombia’s FARC or
Kurdistan.

The US’ decline in press freedom is not simply bad news for journalists working inside
the country; the downward trend has drastic consequences at the international level.
“Fake news” is now a trademark excuse for media repression, in both democratic and
authoritarian regimes. Democratic governments from several countries in the
Organisation of East Caribbean States (OECS) have adopted Trump’s favorite phrase
when criticizing the work of journalists. Given that criminal defamation still remains on the
books in many Caribbean countries, the spread of Trump’s anti-media rhetoric could have
very serious consequences for the local press.

Canada back in top 20, but concerns remain

In 2016, the outlook for Canada’s press freedom was bleak, as various branches of
government seemed to blatantly disregard the fundamental principle that journalists’
sources must remain confidential. In 2017 this trend continued, and then some: criminal
and civil charges were brought against The Independent’s Justin Brake after he covered
environmental protests, and the Ontario Court of Appeal upheld a production order
against VICE News’ Ben Makuch, compelling him to hand over communications with a
source to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).

Yet governmental bodies at both the provincial and the federal level responded with
concrete action to right the course. A federal press “shield law,” the Journalistic Source
Protection Act, was adopted unanimously in October 2017 by Canada’s parliament, and
two months later, a Commission of Inquiry tasked with investigating Quebec police
surveillance of journalists recommended Quebec adopt legislation to better protect
journalistic sources. These improvements are the cause of Canada’s four point gain in
2017.

Despite this progress, the fact remains that Canada has much work to accomplish ahead.
Ben Makuch will defend the confidentiality of his conversations with a source before the
Supreme Court of Canada in May. Justin Brake is still facing charges, and it remains to
be seen how the new “shield law” will be implemented as Radio-Canada investigative
reporter Marie-Maude Denis was ordered in March to reveal her sources in Quebec
Superior Court.

______

PRESS CONTACT:
Noni Ghani
Communications Officer, North America
nghani@rsf.org / (202) 204-5554
Press release
                      Information under embargo until April 25, 2018 – 12:01AM EST

           RSF Index 2018: Mixed performance in Latin America

The 2018 Index shows a slight overall improvement in respect for press freedom in
Latin America but this should not divert attention from the continuing problems of
violence, impunity, and authoritarian policies towards journalists in many Latin
American countries.

With enlightened media legislation and journalists enjoying a relatively high level of
freedom, Costa Rica (10th) continues to be Latin America’s best ranked country in 2018.
It nonetheless fell four places due to the harassment of journalists by the authorities,
especially during the presidential campaign that began in late 2017.

Strongmen still in power

At the other end of the spectrum, Cuba (unchanged at 172nd) continues year after year
to be the Western Hemisphere’s worst ranked country. The Castro family-led regime
maintained its monopoly on news and information. Raúl Castro’s police and intelligence
services silenced dissent and persecuted privately-owned media outlets (which are not
permitted by the constitution). Journalists and bloggers are often arrested or opt for self-
imposed exile.

Venezuela’s six-place fall to 143rd in the 2018 Index was the most significant decline in
Latin America. The authoritarian excesses of President Nicolás Maduro and his
government continued to grow in 2017. Independent and opposition media and foreign
reporters are constantly targeted by the Bolivarian police and intelligence services in an
attempt to minimize coverage of the grave political and economic crisis that began in early
2016.

Attacks on reporters during protests, arbitrary arrests (often followed by heavy-handed
interrogation), destruction of equipment, and deportations of foreign journalists all
continued in 2017. State censorship increased. CONATEL, the telecommunications
regulator, stripped many critical TV and radio stations of their broadcast frequencies while
opposition print media were badly hit by orchestrated newsprint shortages.

In Bolivia (down four at 110th), cash-strapped media have to fight for survival and the
critical ones are harassed by the government that Evo Morales has led since 2006. Its
members attack opposition journalists verbally and prosecute them with the aim of
reducing them to silence. Their targets have included Wilson García Mérida, charged
with sedition, and Yadira Peláez Imanereico, who is accused of “political violence.”

Unable to contain spiralling violence and impunity

In Central America and Mexico, violence and impunity maintain a reign of fear and self-
censorship. In Salvador (66th), Guatemala (116th), Honduras (141st) and Mexico (147th),
investigative reporters, especially those covering organized crime and corruption, are
systematically subjected to threats, intimidation, and physical violence. Those that refuse
or are unable to relocate in the face of imminent danger often pay with their lives. One
journalist was killed in Honduras in 2017 and 11 were killed in Mexico, which became the
world’s second deadliest country for the media last year, surpassed only by Syria. The
murders of two veteran journalists who covered collusion between organized crime and
politicians – Miroslava Breach in Chihuahua state and Javier Valdez in Sinaloa state –
sent shockwaves through both Mexico and the international community.

In these countries corrupted by trafficking in arms and drugs, governments have yet again
proven powerless to rein in the violence. Where specific mechanisms for protecting
journalists exist, as in Honduras and Mexico, they have proved ineffective in dealing with
the appalling security conditions of poorly-paid journalists, especially those working for
local, independent media outlets.

Also mired in corruption and violence, Brazil (up one place at 102nd) has again failed to
rise above the 100th mark in the Index. In an extremely tense and polarized political
environment, highlighted by President Dilma Rousseff’s impeachment and removal in
2016, the Brazilian authorities have yet to prioritize press freedom.

Attacks against reporters have fallen slightly but are still frequent, especially at
demonstrations. Journalists are often subjected to intimidation or abusive judicial
proceedings when they try to cover the interests of politicians and elected officials. Their
vulnerability is especially noticeable in areas far from the major cities, where independent
and community media lack public support and struggle to survive.

Inadequate progress after government change

Ecuador’s 13-place rise to 92nd – the Western Hemisphere’s biggest this year – is due in
part to Lenin Moreno’s election as president in May 2017, which has defused tension
between the government and privately-owned media after Rafael Correa’s three
consecutive terms as president (2007 to 2017). During his decade in office, Correa kept
a tight grip on the media agenda and did not hesitate to personally and publicly target
critical independent media outlets, leading to repeated conflicts and judicial clashes.

In Argentina (down two at 52nd), the war between government and media that marked
the Kirchner years has eased since Mauricio Macri became president in December 2015.
But the situation is still worrying two years later and media outlets deemed overly critical
are often the targets of civil defamation suits. Several reporters were targeted and
physically attacked by police during major street protests in 2017.

Colombia (down one at 130th) has only partially fulfilled the hopes raised by the signing
of historic peace accords between the government and Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia (FARC) in December 2016. It continues to be one of the Western Hemisphere’s
most dangerous countries for the media. Abduction and physical violence are still
common. Armed groups such as the ELN combat attempts by alternative or community
media to cover their activities, leading to the creation of information “black holes,”
especially in rural areas.

The presidential elections that are due to be held in 2018 in some of the region’s worst
ranked countries – Cuba, Venezuela, Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil – could change the
dynamic and create space for better relations between governments and journalists.

______

PRESS CONTACT:
Noni Ghani
Communications Officer, North America
nghani@rsf.org / (202) 204-5554
Press Release
                      Information under embargo until April 25, 2018 – 12:01AM EST

        RSF Index 2018: Journalism sorely tested in North Africa

North Africa’s performance in the 2018 World Press Freedom Index reflects the
different pressures to which journalists are exposed. Restrictive laws, reporting
problems (especially at protests), and subjects that are off limits all prevent
journalists from being free to provide independently reported and pluralist news
and information.

Tunisia (97th), Morocco (135th), Algeria (136th) and Libya (167th) are part of the region
(Middle East/North Africa) with the world’s lowest overall level of respect for press
freedom. Tunisia has not moved in the Index, Morocco and Algeria have both fallen two
places in the past year, while Libya, the worst-ranked of the four, has actually risen one
place. But this rise is deceptive and is due in part to declines in other countries near the
bottom of the Index, and in part to a fall in the number of violations after the exodus of so
many journalists from what is now a very dangerous country.

The overall trend in North Africa in recent years reflects a clear desire on the part of its
leaders to control the media and target journalists who dare to cover forbidden subjects
such as corruption, tax fraud, influential lobbies, and sometimes even demonstrations.

Obstacles to reporting

The “Hirak” protest movement in northern Morocco’s Rif region exposed the difficulties
that both Moroccan and foreign reporters encounter when trying to cover streets protests
or other taboo subjects in Morocco. According to RSF’s tally, 14 journalists and citizen-
journalists were arrested in the crackdown on media coverage of the protests from May
to July 2017 and several foreign journalists were deported.

Similarly, in Tunisia, both Tunisian and foreign journalists were subjected to
administrative and police harassment, especially in connection with the coverage of
protests. Radio reporter Hamdi Souissi was covering a protest in Sfax in September when
he was assaulted by policemen who inflicted injuries to his face and shoulder,
interrogated him for two hours at a police station, and confiscated his equipment.

Reporting is particularly risky in Libya, now one of the world’s most dangerous countries
for media personnel. Journalists and media outlets are the leading victims of the
information war waged by the various parties to the country’s armed conflicts. Since the
start of the uprising against Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, RSF has tallied a total of 332 acts
of violence and abuses against journalists and citizen-journalists in Libya, most of which
have gone unpunished. No steps have been taken by any of the various authorities to
improve the safety of media personnel and self-imposed exile is often the only option for
those who want to continue working as journalists.

Algeria has many red lines for journalists and the mere mention of subjects such as
corruption or the president’s health can lead to threats, online harassment, or arrest. As
well as prosecuting media outlets, the Algerian authorities also use political and financial
pressure. Hadda Hazem, the editor of the Arabic-language newspaper Al-Fadjr, went on
hunger strike in mid-November, accusing the government of inflicting an “orchestrated
death” on her newspaper by depriving it of all state advertising. This was one of the main
sources of income for the Algerian media since October.

Restrictive legislation

Legislative reforms that are supposed to guarantee the freedom to inform have been
initiated in some of the region’s countries but yet have to be finalized. In Tunisia, the
broadcast media bill that the government submitted to the Assembly of the
Representatives of the People in December was disappointing because it lacks
guarantees regarding the independence and powers of future regulatory authorities.
Several national and international NGOs, including RSF, called for the bill’s withdrawal.

Legislative progress is also inadequate in Libya. The draft constitution proposed in July
2017 falls short of international standards for protecting freedom of the press and
expression. It neither provides enough guarantees for the right of access to information
nor enough protection for media independence.

In Algeria, the criminal code adopted in 2016 is applied arbitrarily to journalists in violation
of constitutional provisions guaranteeing press freedom. Provisions for prison sentences
were removed from Morocco’s press law but it still specifically provides for application of
the criminal code and terrorism law to journalists.

Because legislation provides journalists in North Africa with insufficient protection, or even
poses a threat to them, they face the possibility of prison sentences as soon as their
reporting starts to aggravate the authorities.

Journalists in prison

Journalists still receive prison sentences in both Morocco and Algeria. Hamid El
Mahdaoui, the editor of the Moroccan news website Badil.info, has been held since July
2017. Arrested while covering the protests in Al-Hoceïma in the Rif region, he was initially
sentenced to three months in prison and a fine of 20,000 dirhams, but an appeal court in
Al-Hoceïma upped his sentence in September to a year in prison. He and four other
detained journalists and citizen-journalists and three media workers are also defendants
in a Rif protests mass trial in which some 50 hearings have so far been held.
Saïd Chitour, a journalist arrested in Algeria in June 2017 on suspicion of spying and
selling classified documents to foreign diplomats, is still awaiting trial and , according to
RSF’s information, his state of health is extremely worrying.

______

PRESS CONTACT:
Noni Ghani
Communications Officer, North America
nghani@rsf.org / (202) 204-5554
Press release
                      Information under embargo until April 25, 2018 – 12:01AM EST

             RSF Index 2018: The dangers of reporting in Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa has maintained its third place in the ranking by geographical
region, with a slightly better overall indicator than in 2017. But there is a wide range
of situations within the region, and journalists are often the victims of intimidation,
physical violence, and arrest.

Namibia (26th), which has yet to adopt a promised law on access to information, has
surrendered the title of best-ranked African country to Ghana (23rd). At the other end of
the Index, Africa still has many news and information black holes. Press freedom is non-
existent in Eritrea (second from last at 179th), Djibouti (173rd), Burundi (159th) and
Somalia (168th), where four journalists were killed in terrorist attacks in 2017.

Reporting difficulties

Investigative reporting is very risky for journalists in Africa. This is the case, for example,
in Tanzania (down ten places at 93rd, one of this year’s biggest falls), where President
John Magufuli tolerates no criticism. A popular news forum’s founder was summoned to
court dozens of times in the space of a year to name his sources, while a reporter who
was investigating a series of murders of local officials went missing in November 2017.

In Madagascar (54th), a journalist was given a jail sentence (albeit suspended) for the
first time in 40 years as a result of investigative reporting that exposed corruption. In
Swaziland (152nd), a newspaper editor had to flee to South Africa after questioning a
decision to award a licence to a local mobile phone company.

In Democratic Republic of Congo (154th), Journalist in Danger (JED), RSF’s partner
organization, documented 121 cases of abuses against the media in 2017. Attacks,
arbitrary arrests, and media closures constitute an organized system for preventing
journalists from covering the Congolese regime’s dangerous authoritarianism.

Covering street protests is a delicate exercise in many African countries. In Togo (86th),
the authorities withdrew the accreditation of an international TV broadcaster’s
correspondent after she covered opposition protests. In Guinea (down three places at
104th), the president’s direct threats to close media outlets that interviewed a union leader
helped create a climate of hostility towards the media. Radio stations were closed while
journalists were sometimes targeted by protesters.
In response to threats and attacks on reporters during demonstrations in Chad (123rd),
the country’s journalists staged a “Day without Press” protest in February 2018. Sudan
(still near the bottom of the Index at 174th) continues to be one of the continent’s riskiest
places for street reporting. In January 2018, 18 journalists were arrested and several
media outlets were shut down amid protests against a bread price increase. In
neighbouring South Sudan (144th), it has become almost impossible to cover the four-
year-old civil war. In 2017, 20 foreign journalists were banned from the country and a
freelance war reporter was fatally shot during conflict in the south.

Internet cuts or restrictions on access to online social networks are now widely used in
Africa as censorship tools to gag dissent and prevent coverage of unrest within a sector
of the population. They are systematically imposed on the eve of every street protest in
Democratic Republic of Congo.

In Cameroon (129th), an unprecedented complaint was filed against the government
before its own Constitutional Council after it disconnected the Internet for several months
in two English-speaking regions that were protesting against discrimination. After falling
ten places in 2016, Uganda has fallen another five places to 117th, in part because it
created a special security unit to closely monitor websites and social networks.

Some subjects still off limits

In a disturbing trend, journalists are encountering growing difficulties when covering
subjects with national security ramifications. This is the case in Nigeria (119th) and Mali
(115th), where journalists are often harassed by the authorities. They are accused of
undermining troop morale when they refer to the difficulties of the security forces in
combatting terrorism.

The Cameroonian journalist Ahmed Abba was released in December 2017 after being
held for 29 months for covering the activities of the Jihadi armed group Boko Haram. In
Côte d’Ivoire (82nd), the authorities detained eight journalists in order to ask them to name
their sources for articles about sizeable army mutinies in 2017.

Mauritania (whose 17 place fall to 72nd was Africa’s largest decline) has passed a law
making apostasy and blasphemy punishable by death even when the offender repents.
The blogger Mohamed Cheikh Ould Mohamed is still detained despite having completed
a two-year jail sentence for “heresy.” Slavery, which still exists in Mauritania although now
illegal, is a highly sensitive subject that sometimes gets foreign reporters expelled.

A recent RSF report highlighted the fact that journalists who cover stories involving
women’s rights or gender issues often suffer severe reprisals. In Somalia, journalists who
interview rape victims are liable to be jailed on defamation charges. In Uganda, a
journalist was abducted and beaten after pointing out that the president had not kept his
promise to distribute tampons in schools.
More generally, any reporting critical of the authorities tends to get a poor reception in
sub-Saharan Africa, as seen in the one-year jail sentence passed on appeal on Baba
Alpha, a TV journalist in Niger (down two places at 63rd) who has a reputation for drawing
attention to bad government practices. After completing his sentence, he was recently
expelled to neighbouring Mali as a "threat to internal state security."

Restrictive laws

The new media laws adopted during the past year did not encourage more journalistic
freedom and independence. The anticipated decriminalization of press offences in
Senegal (up eight places at 50th), was not included in the new press code adopted in
June 2017.

There are no longer any grounds for detaining journalists in the new media law approved
by Côte d’Ivoire’s national assembly, but journalists can still be the subject of prosecutions
for insulting the president or for defamation. Terrorism laws are often used to arrest
journalists in Ethiopia (150th) and Nigeria (119th).

The only good news in this domain came from Malawi (whose six-place rise to 64th was
Africa’s second biggest) with the promulgation of a law facilitating access to information
about elected officials and government institutions, 12 years after it began being debated.

Promising regime change?

The departure of some of the continent’s worst press freedom predators could open the
way to a new era for journalism in the countries concerned.

In Gambia (which soared 21 places to 122nd), the new president has promised a less
restrictive media law and the inclusion of free speech in the constitution. In Zimbabwe (up
two places at 126th), Robert Mugabe’s successor, his former right-hand man, has also
promised reforms and a “new democracy” in a country with especially draconian media
laws.

The prospect of finally seeing the birth of free and independent journalism in Angola (up
four places at 121st) is more uncertain. Joao Lourenço’s installation as president after 38
years of rule by the Dos Santos clan has not yet lead to any significant improvement in
media freedom.

In these three countries, the promises made after the installation of new leaders needs to
be translated quickly into concrete measures that finally allow the freedom to inform.
________

PRESS CONTACT:
Noni Ghani
Communications Officer, North America
nghani@rsf.org / (202) 204-5554
Press release
                      Information under embargo until April 25, 2018 – 12:01AM EST

    RSF Index 2018: Middle East riven by conflicts, political clashes

The Middle East’s countries are yet again at the bottom of RSF’s World Press
Freedom Index. Armed conflicts, terrorism charges against independent
journalists and media, and growing online surveillance and censorship make
reporting extremely dangerous for the region’s journalists.

Conflicts, both armed and political, continue to be the leading threat to the region’s
journalists. When they are not the victims of artillery bombardment, air strikes, sniper fire,
forgotten mines or abduction, journalists are accused of being active participants in the
region’s diplomatic crises.

With 13 journalists killed in 2017 and more than 20 journalists and citizen-journalists
currently held hostage, Syria (no change at 177th) is still the world’s most dangerous
country for the media and holder of the Middle East’s lowest ranking in the Index. Its
journalists continue to flee abroad and vast areas have become black holes from which
no news emerges.

Yemen (167th) is also mired in a civil (and international) war. The security situation for
journalists is now very bad and they are widely regarded with suspicion, either as
propagandists for the Houthi rebels or as servants of the government that is recognized
internationally or of its backers Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. As a result,
they are exposed to the possibility of being attacked, arrested, imprisoned or killed by any
of the various parties to the war waged since 2014.

Journalists suffer a similar fate in Iraq (down two at 160th), where they are caught
between the rival factions in open conflict that also wage an information war. Many media
have been forced to close and reporters have been physically attacked. Some claim to
have been targeted by politicians and armed groups involved in corruption. Journalists in
Iraqi Kurdistan were badly affected by tension linked to the independence referendum or
to protests.

The governments of Saudi Arabia (169th), United Arab Emirates (128th), Bahrain (166th)
and Egypt (161st) jointly imposed a diplomatic and economic embargo on Qatar (125th)
in mid-2017. Their demands included the closure of the Qatari TV news broadcaster Al
Jazeera on the grounds that its allegedly biased coverage of the Arab Spring has been
fuelling hostility towards them for years. Many non-Qatari Gulf journalists were meanwhile
harassed and some were forced to resign from Qatari TV channels for which they had
worked for years or even decades.

Terrorism accusations

In Egypt, as in many other countries in the region, the fight against terrorism has become
the regime’s key weapon for cracking down on journalists. All independent media and
journalists are exposed to the possibility of terrorism charges. At least 30 journalists are
currently imprisoned in Egypt in connection with their reporting. What they are actually
accused of doing is often vague. They are usually just charged with belonging to a terrorist
group or spreading false news. For this, some have been detained provisionally for the
past two years. The photojournalist known as Shawkan has been in prison since 2013
and is now one of more than 700 defendants in a mass trial for whom prosecutors have
just requested the death penalty.

In Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman’s talk of reform has not translated
into any improvement in respect for press freedom. Dozens of activists, government
opponents and journalists were arrested in 2017.

In Israel (87th), the fight against terrorism is often used as grounds to bully journalists.
Again in 2017, the suspicion of working for TV channels linked to Hamas was sufficient
for the Israeli military to close news agencies or arrest journalists such as Amir Abou
Aram and Alaa Al Titi, who were detained administratively for two months at the end of
2017.

Bahrain (166th) also uses this pretext to continue holding journalists who reported
information that the authorities would have preferred to suppress. They include Ahmed
el-Mousawi, a photographer who covered opposition protests and who is serving a ten-
year jail term for allegedly “distributing SIM cards” to “persons implicated in terrorist acts.”
They also include Nabeel Rajab, a blogger and human rights defender who was
sentenced to five years in prison in February 2018 for tweets in 2015 criticizing torture in
Bahrain and the Arab coalition’s intervention in Yemen.

Cyber-crime laws

In this particularly hostile environment for journalists, the Internet has been the only space
where a relative freedom to inform still exists. But the region’s governments have realized
this and, one by one, have been adopting cyber-crime laws in order to gag online
journalists and citizen-journalists.

In the United Arab Emirates (down nine places at 128th), new legislation allowed the
authorities to arrest the citizen-journalist Ahmed Mansoor and hold him incommunicado
on a charge of posting “false information, rumours and lies” liable to damage the UAE’s
reputation.
Citizen-journalists in Iran (164th) are also finding it harder and harder to escape
censorship. The regime fears freely reported news and information, regarding it as
attempted “subversion.” As the traditional media are under close control, citizen-
journalists on social networks are nowadays at the heart of the fight for information
freedom and political change in Iran. However, trying to frustrate the regime’s desire to
maintain a blackout on information is not without risk. Iran continues to be one of the
world’s biggest jailers of journalists and citizen-journalists with around 20 currently
detained.

Some countries censor the Internet without waiting for the relevant laws to be
promulgated. In Palestine (134th), the Palestinian Authority blocked several news
websites in June 2017, before the cyber-crime law was promulgated in July. Egypt is
currently discussing a law on electronic crimes, but it already began blocking more than
500 websites in mid-2017. They include dozens of news sites and the sites of local and
international NGOs such as RSF.

______

PRESS CONTACT:
Noni Ghani
Communications Officer, North America
nghani@rsf.org / (202) 204-5554
Press release
                      Information under embargo until April 25, 2018 – 12:01AM EST

         RSF Index 2018: Asia-Pacific democracies threatened by
                      China’s media control model

The Chinese model of state-controlled news and information is being copied in
other Asian countries, especially Vietnam and Cambodia. Northern Asia’s
democracies are struggling to establish themselves as alternative models.
Violence against journalists is increasingly worrying in Afghanistan, India,
Pakistan, and the Philippines.

The Asia-Pacific region still has the world’s worst violator of the freedom to inform: North
Korea (180th). The recent widespread adoption of smartphones in North Korea has
unfortunately been accompanied by draconian control of communications and the
national intranet. The state news agency KCNA is the only authorized source of news for
all of the country’s media. Just reading, viewing, or listening to a foreign media outlet can
lead to a spell in a concentration camp.

More censorship and surveillance in China

Unchanged at 176th in the Index, Xi Jinping’s China is getting closer and closer to a
contemporary version of totalitarianism. During President Xi’s first term, censorship and
surveillance reached unprecedented levels thanks to the massive use of new technology.
Foreign reporters are finding it harder to work and ordinary citizens can now be jailed just
for sharing content on a social network or during a private chat on a messaging service.

More than 50 professional and non-professional journalists are currently detained in
China, many of them the victims of mistreatment and a lack of medical care that poses a
threat to their lives. Liu Xiaobo, a Nobel peace laureate and recipient of RSF’s Press
Freedom Prize, and the dissident blogger Yang Tongyan both died last year from cancers
that were left untreated in detention.

Internationally, the Chinese government is trying to establish a “new world media order”
under its influence by exporting its oppressive methods, information censorship system,
and Internet surveillance tools. Its unabashed desire to crush all pockets of public
resistance unfortunately has imitators in Asia.

Under Chinese influence
This is particularly so with Vietnam, which at 175th is just one place above China in the
Index. Its traditional media are completely controlled, but citizen-journalists defend the
freedom to inform with great courage —and the government’s response has been
merciless. Bloggers used to be sentenced to two years in prison, but now those who blog
about banned subjects such as corruption or environmental disasters can expect a 15-
year jail term.

Cambodia, another country that seems to be taking the dangerous Chinese road, has
fallen ten places in the Index to 142nd, one of the biggest falls in the region. Prime Minister
Hun Sen’s regime launched a ruthless offensive against media freedom in 2017, shutting
down more than 30 independent media outlets and jailing several journalists in a
completely arbitrary manner.

His suppression of independent voices, his increased dominance of the mass media and
his meticulous control of social media are a disturbing echo of the methods used in China,
which has invested millions of euros in Cambodia’s pro-government media. The Chinese
model’s influence reverberates through the media in Thailand (140th), Malaysia (145th),
and Singapore (151st).

Hate speech

The other fall in the region that speaks volumes is Myanmar’s (down six places at 137th).
In the past year, the government led by Aung San Suu Kyi has lost all credibility in regards
to its obligation to defend the role of the media in a functioning democracy.

The worst violations took place after the start of the Rohingya crisis in August 2017. The
international community now knows that “elements of genocide” and “ethnic cleansing”
occurred, to use the UN’s terms. But proper reporting on this tragedy from within Myanmar
is still impossible because the military continue to deny access. Two Reuters reporters
who tried to investigate are still in prison.

Myanmar’s coverage of the Rohingya crisis has been marked by the growth of hate
messages on social networks, especially Facebook. Any journalist who does not fall in
with the prevailing anti-Muslim discourse is subject to violent verbal harassment by
Buddhist extremists. This has done much to encourage self-censorship within the media.

Leaders hostile to press freedom

Hate speech is also an issue in the continent’s other giant, India, which has fallen another
two places to 138th. Ever since Narendra Modi became prime minister in 2014, Hindu
fundamentalists have been referring to journalists in extremely violent terms.

Any investigative reporting that aggravates the ruling party or any criticism of Hindutva,
an ideology that blends Hindu nationalism with an almost fascistic rhetoric, elicits a torrent
of online insults and calls for the death of the reporter or writer responsible, most of it
coming from the prime minister’s troll army.
This unbridled verbal violence serves to support a leader who asserts himself as a
strongman—a leader whose authority does not tolerate being undermined by reporters or
editorialists.

As elsewhere in the world in 2017, this verbal violence has tragically led to physical
violence. The newspaper editor Gauri Lankesh was gunned down outside her home in
September after being the target of hate speech and death threats for criticizing Hindu
supremacy, the caste system, and discrimination against women.

The physical violence against journalists is largely responsible for India’s low ranking. At
least three journalists were murdered in connection with their work. More were killed in
circumstances that were unclear, as is often the case in rural areas where reporters are
poorly paid. The situation in the Kashmir Valley, a news black hole, contributed to the
poor ranking of a country whose long tradition of vibrant media could nonetheless enable
it to rise again in the Index.

In the Philippines, down six places at 133rd, the dynamism of the media has also been
checked by the emergence of a leader who wants to show he is all-powerful. President
Rodrigo Duterte lost no time in warning the “sons of whore journalists” that they would not
be spared.

There have been countless examples of Philippine government harassment of media that
voice any kind of criticism of Duterte’s “war on drugs.” Here again, verbal violence and
physical violence are closely linked. With four journalists murdered in connection to their
work in 2017, the Philippines is one of the continent’s deadliest countries.

Physical violence

The high level of violence to which reporters are exposed in Pakistan (139th) accounts
for its failure to rise in the Index. With death threats, abduction, and torture, journalists
are still threatened by both Islamic fundamentalists on the one hand and by the all-
powerful intelligence services on the other.

Violence is even more worrying in neighbouring Afghanistan (118th), where 18 journalists
and media workers were killed in 2017. It nonetheless rose two places in the Index above
all because of an improvement in the legal environment with the creation of coordinating
committees for the safety of journalists and media. These committees handled around
100 cases in the past year, and in some cases sanctions were imposed on senior civilian
and military officials.

Similarly, the efforts undertaken in Sri Lanka to combat physical attacks against media
personnel and impunity for acts of violence against journalists account for its ten place
rise in the Index to 131st.

Democracies that resist
Despite an overall improvement in the media environment in Mongolia, pressure on the
media during the presidential election accounts for its slight fall (down two places at 71st).
Japan’s rise (up five places at 67th) reflects a relative easing in pressure on the media
from Shinzo Abe’s nationalist government, although journalists are still constrained by the
weight of tradition and business interests.

Hong Kong (70th) and Taiwan (42nd) each rose three places, resisting China’s growing
influence in their different ways.

South Korea (up 20 places at 43rd) rose more than any other country in the Asia-Pacific
region. After a terrible decade, the new president, Moon Jae-in, has brought a breath of
fresh air that helped resolve a conflict between journalists and management at the public
broadcasting service. Structural problems still need addressing, including decriminalizing
defamation and repealing a national security law that continues to threaten journalists.

Near the top of the Index, Australia has not budged from 19th place, above all because
media ownership continues to be highly concentrated. Simple legal safeguards would
nonetheless have allowed it to rise a few places.

This was the case in New Zealand, which is up five places at 8th. The authorities blocked
a proposed merger between the country’s two biggest media groups, thereby providing
media pluralism and independence with new guarantees. At the same time, investigative
reporting should soon be strengthened by a law protecting whistleblowers — a good
example to follow.

______

PRESS CONTACT:
Noni Ghani
Communications Officer, North America
nghani@rsf.org / (202) 204-5554
Press release
                     Information under embargo until April 25, 2018 – 12:01AM EST

RSF Index 2018: Historic decline in press freedom in ex-Soviet states,
                               Turkey
The former Soviet countries and Turkey continue to be at the forefront of the
worldwide decline in press freedom. Almost two-thirds of the region’s countries
are ranked somewhere near or below the 150th position in the Index. The region’s
overall indicator has sunk almost as low as that of the Middle East/North Africa, the
last in the rankings by region.

Press freedom in Russia and Turkey has sunk to levels that are without precedent in more
than three decades, a decline that is all the more worrying because of the influence that
these two countries exert on the surrounding region.

The world’s biggest prison for professional journalists, Turkey (157th) has managed to
fall another two places in the past year, which saw a succession of mass trials. After more
than a year in provisional detention, dozens of journalists have begun to be tried for
alleged complicity in the July 2016 coup attempt. The first sentences to be handed down
have included life imprisonment. The state of emergency in effect for nearly two years in
Turkey has allowed the authorities to eradicate what was left of pluralism, opening the
way for a constitutional reform consolidating President Erdogan’s grip on the country. The
rule of law is now just a fading memory, as confirmed by the failure to carry out a
constitutional court ruling in January 2018 ordering the immediate release of two
imprisoned journalists.

Russia’s ranking is unchanged at 148th only because of the overall decline in press
freedom worldwide. Russia’s negative factors score has risen yet again, as it has steadily
in recent years. More journalists and bloggers are detained now in Russia than at any
other time since the Soviet Union’s fall. With the leading media already largely controlled
by oligarchs “loyal” to the Kremlin, the pressure is now growing on independent media
and investigative journalists.

In response to an increase in protests and in the run-up to the 2018 presidential election,
the Russian authorities tightened their grip on the Internet, harassing instant messaging
services and imposing a new legislative straitjacket on search engines and tools for
circumventing censorship. The climate of impunity encourages more physical attacks on
journalists and makes the threats received by independent media outlets all the more
worrying. Virtually all critical voices have been purged from Chechnya and Crimea. But
that has not prevented Moscow from portraying itself as an alternative model
internationally.
Despots get more despotic

Driven by paranoia or encouraged by the worldwide questioning of democratic standards,
the region’s worst despots continue to tighten the screw. Already at or near the bottom of
the Index, they have managed to do even worse this year with complete impunity.

It would have been hard for Turkmenistan, which was already third from the bottom at
178th, to fall any lower but its negative factors score has risen in line with its increased
persecution of the few remaining independent journalists. Azerbaijan (163rd) and
Kazakhstan (158th) have both fallen one place. Not content with finding ever new pretexts
for detaining journalists, Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev has blocked access to the
main independent news websites and has stepped up harassment of journalists who try
to resist from exile. After silencing the last opposition media outlets, his Kazakh
counterpart signed a law in December 2017 that makes investigative reporting almost
impossible.

The respite is well and truly over in Belarus (down two places at 155th). An increase in
opposition protests was accompanied by a new crackdown. At least 100 journalists were
briefly arrested in 2017 and more than 60 were convicted of working for media outlets
based abroad. Tajikistan (149th) has not budged in the 2018 Index but that is little
consolation after its dramatic 34-place fall in the 2016 Index as a result of its eradication
of pluralism. The media are now reduced to singing the praises of “Leader of the Nation”
Emomali Rakhmon.

The region’s only country to rise significantly in the Index was Uzbekistan (165th), which
climbed four places while its negative factors score (66.11 in 2017) fell by more than five
points. After taking charge of one of the world’s most oppressive regimes in December
2016, Shavkat Mirziyoyev began to address his predecessor’s ultra-authoritarian heritage
and to free some of the imprisoned journalists, including Muhammad Bekjanov, held the
longest (18 years). The trend has accelerated since the start of 2018, after the period
covered by this Index, but much remains to be done. The media are still largely controlled,
the main independent news websites are still blocked and two journalists were arrested
in 2017. Their fate will serve as a test.

No more refuge for persecuted journalists?

Higher up the Index, only Georgia (up three at 61st) and, to a lesser extent, Ukraine (up
one at 101st) have risen. The significance of Georgia’s small rise is undermined by the
volatility of this section of the Index. Ukraine saw fewer abuses in the past year, but where
it now seems to be stuck in the Index is disappointing after the promises of the 2014
revolution.
The oligarchs’ grip on the leading media outlets, impunity for physical attacks on
journalists and the excesses of the “information war” with Russia are still key challenges.
Kyrgyzstan (98th) is still an exception in Central Asia because of its media pluralism, but
its nine-place fall reflects serious concern for press freedom’s future. Independent media
have been harassed and astronomic fines imposed for “insulting the head of state.”
Armenia (80th) and Moldova (81st) both fell one place due to concern about access to
state-held information in the first and excesses in the fight against propaganda in the
second.

The increasingly frequent arrests of journalists in exile are another source of concern.
Uzbek journalist Ali Feruz was detained in Russia for six months before being deported
to Germany. An Uzbek journalist, an Azerbaijani journalist and a Kazakh blogger were all
briefly arrested in Ukraine. Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Mukhtarly was abducted in
Georgia, where he lived in self-imposed exile, and was forcibly returned to Azerbaijan.
The Ukrainian and Georgian governments must not abandon the region’s dissident exiles
who will have nowhere else to go for refuge.

_____

PRESS CONTACT:
Noni Ghani
Communications Officer, North America
nghani@rsf.org / (202) 204-5554
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