The criminalisation of journalism reaches a peak

The Index’s legal indicator has seen the most severe decline this year. This score deteriorated in more than 60% of states — 110 out of 180 — between 2025 and 2026. This is notably the case in India (157th), Egypt (169th), Israel (116th) and Georgia (135th). The criminalisation of journalism, which is rooted in circumventing press law and misusing emergency legislation and common law, is proving to be a global phenomenon.

The legal indicator plummets due to the abuse of national security laws

Twenty-five years after the attacks of 11 September 2001 in the United States, expanding the scope of defence secrets and national security has become a means to prohibit coverage of issues of public interest in many countries. This trend, which is particularly prevalent in authoritarian regimes, has also gained traction in democracies and typically goes hand in hand with abusive applications of the law against journalists, notably in the name of combatting terrorism.

Among the countries closed off to the independent press, Vladimir Putin’s Russia (172nd) has become a specialist in using laws designed to combat terrorism, separatism and extremism to restrict press freedom. As of April 2026, the country held 48 journalists behind bars. News professionals who wish to continue their work have been forced into exile, where they are still unable to escape legal persecution as it extends well beyond the country’s borders. This technique of instrumentalising national security measures can also be found in neighbouring Belarus (165th), as well as in Myanmar (166th), Nicaragua (168th) and Egypt (169th). Until 13 April, Sandra Muhoza was the only woman journalist detained in Africa’s Great Lakes region in 2026, prosecuted in Burundi (119th) for “undermining the integrity of the national territory,” a charge regularly used in the Great Lakes. In Ethiopia (148th), four journalists have been locked up for three years on terrorism-related charges.

Even in democratic countries, the legislative noose is tightening around the press. In Japan (62nd), state secrets legislation continues to undermine journalists’ work, especially as the safeguards for protecting source confidentiality and editorial independence are inadequate. In the Philippines (114th), a democracy on paper, terrorism charges have been used as a pretext to silence independent reporters, including journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio , who was convicted even though the case against her contained no tangible evidence, as revealed by an RSF investigation . In Hong Kong (140th), a draconian national security law has allowed the authorities to imprison independent publisher Jimmy Lai, who was recently sentenced to 20 years in prison, the heaviest ever imposed on a journalist in the territory.

In Türkiye (163rd), anti-terrorism laws are not the only kind of legislation used to restrict press freedom. Under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, charges such as “disinformation”, “ insulting the President ” and “denigrating state institutions” are regularly instrumentalised to repress journalism and imprison media professionals.

In North Africa, Tunisia (137th) is no exception to this global trend of legal warfare, also known as “lawfare.” While the country’s Decree-Law 54 on “false information” has effectively criminalised journalism critical of the authorities, the suspension of media outlets and repeated legal proceedings reflect the growing instrumentalisation of the justice system against media professionals.

Abusive lawsuits and pressure on public media

The decline in the legal indicator this year is also explained by the rise in strategic litigation against public participation — abusive lawsuits known as SLAPPs — used against journalists, whether in Bulgaria (71st) or Guatemala (128th), the country with the emblematic case of José Rubén Zamora. In Indonesia (129th), Singapore (123rd) and Thailand (92nd), political and business elites also exploit a legal system that fails to sufficiently protect the press. These legal abuses also occur in relatively high-ranking countries, such as France (25th).

Public policies have failed to provide a structural solution to the array of challenges — be they physical or legal threats — faced by journalists around the world. In more than 80% of the countries analysed, protection mechanisms are seen as non-existent or ineffective. Although the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) guarantees the independence and sustainability of media outlets — particularly public service outlets — within the European Union, it is regularly undermined by national legislative projects, as was the case in Hungary (74th) under Viktor Orbán’s outgoing government, and also in better-ranked countries such as Slovakia (37th), Lithuania (15th) and the Czech Republic (11th).

The American continent grapples with political violence and security challenges

The US falling apart under Donald Trump

Since 2022, the drop in the overall ranking of the 28 countries in the Americas (-14 points) is similar to the decline seen in the world’s two most dangerous regions for journalists, Eastern Europe–Central Asia (EEAC) and the Middle East–North Africa (MENA). Despite some improvements in recent years, as seen in Brazil (52nd), the recent history of press freedom in the Americas has been shaped by the rise in violence perpetrated by two offenders: organised crime and political actors.

US President Donald Trump has turned his repeated attacks on the press and journalists into a systematic policy, pushing the US down to 64th place (-7). The detention of Salvadoran journalist Mario Guevara , who was later deported, has contributed to the deterioration of an already tense security environment marked by police violence . The drastic cuts to the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) workforce had global repercussions, 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) in countries where they were some of the last reliable sources of information.

Presidents Javier Milei and Nayib Bukele —- Donald Trump’s most vocal supporters in Latin America — have taken their cue from the White House in their approach to the media, with unsurprisingly similar results. Javier Meili’s Argentina (98th, -11) and Nayib Bukele’s El Salvador (143rd, -8) have recorded significant declines, notably linked to the deterioration of these countries’ political and social indicators, reflecting a rise in government hostility towards and pressure on the press.

Latin America in decline