Between the Seychelles (13th) or Namibia (18th) and Eritrea (179th out of 180), there are the different faces of Africa. The results are mixed, according to the latest Reporters Without Borders (RSF) report. “In recent years, the proliferation of repressive laws criminalizing online journalism has dealt a further blow to the right to information. At the same time, the proliferation of rumours, propaganda and disinformation has contributed to weakening the journalism and access to quality information”, notes RSF.
#RSFIndex : RSF unveils its 2022 World Press Freedom Index
1: Norway
2: Denmark
3: Sweden16: Germany
26: France
42: USA
58: Italy
71: Japan
134: Algeria178: Iran
179: Eritrea
180: North Koreahttps://t.co/UJwtIlcGdw pic.twitter.com/mkLS9VIouu— RSF (@RSF_inter) May 3, 2022
The situation is uneven. While Côte d’Ivoire made an impressive leap from 66th to 37th place out of 180, Mali continued to sink in the rankings. “In the Sahel, insecurity and political instability have risen sharply and journalism there has recently come under spectacular attack. In 2021, two Spanish journalists were killed in Burkina Faso (41st), the French reporter Olivier Dubois was kidnapped by an armed group in Mali (111th) and several journalists were expelled from Benin (121st), Mali or Burkina Faso”, analyzes the organization.
“The situation of the press in the North Africa region (excluding Egypt) has never been so worrying, with four countries concerned at the highest level by this worsening of the situation: Algeria (134th), where the freedom of the press is declining in a worrying way and the imprisonment of journalists is becoming commonplace, Morocco (135th) which keeps three important figures in journalism in prison despite pressure, and finally Libya (143rd) and Sudan (151st) where observers and our correspondents explain that there is no longer a free press in the country”, RSF is alarmed.
Tunisia is doing a little better, but “serious concerns have however emerged since the coup by President Kaïs Saïed, on July 25, 2021, and the installation of the state of exception”.