..US falls seven places to 64th
The 2026 World Press Freedom Index released by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) recently, has shown that half of countries in the world now fall into the “difficult” or “very serious” categories for press freedom, marking the bleakest year since the index began 25 years ago.
The global average score across all 180 assessed countries and territories has dropped to its lowest level on record, with more than half of the world’s population now living in countries where press freedom is considered constrained.
This represents a dramatic shift from 2002, when just 13.7 percent of countries fell into these categories compared to 52.2 percent today.
This is even as Nigeria recorded a 10-place improvement in the 2026 index, moving from 122nd in 2025 to 112th out of 180 countries. The country scored 48.11 out of 100, returning to its 2024 position after last year’s decline.
Nigeria recorded improvements in four of the five indicators used by RSF to assess press freedom, covering the economic, legal, security, political, and social environments for journalism, though it saw a decline of 0.99 points in the social indicator.
Despite the upward movement, Nigeria remains in the “difficult” category for press freedom and is described by RSF. The ranking comes as concerns persist over journalist safety across the country, with media development experts drawing attention to threats facing journalists, particularly from state governments.
At a workshop commemorating World Press Freedom Day, Amnesty International Country Director Isa Sanusi said the public focus must shift toward state governments concerning press freedom in Nigeria, noting that “we focus more on the federal government than the sub-nationals” and calling for sanctions on governors and “boycotting those attacking the media.”
The International Press Institute (IPI) Nigeria has already blacklisted two governors, Mohammed Bago of Niger State and Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State, alongside the then-Inspector-General of Police Kayode Egbetokun for their roles in press crackdowns in 2025.
IPI cited Governor Bago for ordering the closure of Badegi 90.1 FM, the detention of a People’s Daily correspondent, and the reported assault of a Voice of America journalist, while Governor Eno was cited for barring Channels TV reporters from the state’s press centre.
The International Press Institute (IPI) Nigeria also opened a new Press Freedom Hub in Abuja to support journalists and sustain the fight against media bullying, while the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) launched the Press Attack Tracker (PAT West Africa) to document incidents of press repression.
CJID Executive Director Akintunde Babatunde encouraged journalists to use the tracker to report attacks, while the Chief Executive Officer of CJID and Publisher of Premium Times, Dapo Olorunyomi, said press freedom is “a central pillar in the construction of a democratic democracy and the lifeblood of a democratic democracy” and called for sustainable media models that “resist capture and collapse.”
Speaking globally, RSF North American Executive Director Clayton Weimers said, “You don’t arrive at a point like this because one particular event went the wrong way, or one election swung in a certain direction. These are structural deficiencies that are global trends as well as national trends, and it’s a bad trend line”.
Weimers also noted that “journalists continue to be killed and jailed, but journalism itself is now threatened by economic headwinds, the criminalisation of reporting, and a hostile political climate,” adding that “there is no freedom without press freedom.”
The European Parliament hosted a high-level exchange of views on World Press Freedom Day, where lawmakers and human rights defenders called for urgent action to protect journalists, who serve as the “cornerstone of democracy.”
Julie Majerczak of Reporters Without Borders reported that the index has reached its lowest level, citing 16 killings and 473 imprisonments of journalists this year alone, and criticised the “legal arsenal” being built against journalists through the misuse of national security laws.
The European Parliament also highlighted the emerging threats posed by Artificial Intelligence to the integrity of information, with generative AI identified as an existential threat that obscures truth and undermines the financial survival of traditional journalism.
The index also revealed that Eritrea ranks last at 180th for the third consecutive year, with the lowest press freedom score globally. Norway retained the top spot for the tenth consecutive year with a score of 92.72, followed by the Netherlands (88.92), Estonia (88.54), Denmark (88.47), and Sweden (87.61). The United States fell seven places to 64th, its lowest-ever ranking, with RSF citing systematic attacks on press freedom by the current administration, including funding cuts to public broadcasters and the weaponisation of state institutions against journalists.
According to RSF, President Donald Trump has “turned his repeated attacks on the press and journalists into a systematic policy,” with drastic cuts to the US Agency for Global Media workforce leading to “the closure, suspension and downsizing of international broadcasters such as Voice of America (VOA), Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) and Radio Free Asia (RFA).”
The top 10 countries in the 2026 index are Norway, Netherlands, Estonia, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Ireland, Switzerland, Luxembourg, and Portugal. At the bottom of the table, the 10 worst-performing countries are Azerbaijan (171st), Russia (172nd), Turkmenistan (173rd), Vietnam (174th), Afghanistan (175th), Iran (176th), Saudi Arabia (177th), China (178th), Syria (179th), and Eritrea (180th).
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