Armenia improves its performance by two points and ranks 49th in Reporters Without Borders 2023  World Press Freedom Index

ArmInfo. Armenia improved its performance by two points and ranked 49th in the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) 2023 World Press Freedom Index.

"Despite a pluralistic environment, the media remain polarised. The country is facing an  unprecedented level of disinformation and hate speech, especially concerning the Nagorno-Karabakh  territorial dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan," the report notes.   Neighboring Azerbaijan ranks 151st out of 180 countries. In 2022, itwas in 154th place. According to  the source: "President Ilham Aliyev has wiped out any semblance of pluralism, and since 2014,  he has sought ruthlessly to silence any remaining critics. 

Another neighbor of Armenia - Georgia is located on the 77th line. In 2022, it was in 89th place.  "Official interference undermines efforts undertaken to improve press  freedom. The environment is becoming increasingly hostile for independent and  opposition media and the country saw an unprecedented number of physical  assaults on journalists in 2021," stated in the Organization's report.

Iran is in 177th place, having improved its performance by one position. "Iran has reinforced its  position as one of the world's most repressive countries in terms of press freedom since a huge wave  of protests began in reaction to the death, on 16 September 2022, of Mahsa Amini, a student arrested  for being "inappropriately dressed". Iran is now also one of the world's biggest jailers of journalists."

Another neighbor of Armenia - TЃrkiye is in 165th place. It worsened its position  by 16 points and dropped from 149th to 165th place. "Authoritarianism is gaining  ground in TЃrkiye, challenging media pluralism. All possible means are used to  undermine critics."

Armenia's strategic ally Russia is on the 164th line. It worsened its position in the ranking by 9 points.  "Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, almost all independent media have been banned,  blocked and/or declared "foreign agents" or "undesirable organisations". All others are subject to  military censorship."

Norway leads the ranking for the seventh time in a row. It is the only country to score over 90 out of  100 on all indicators. "Norway's legal framework safeguarding freedom of the press is robust. The  media market is vibrant, featuring a strong public service broadcaster and a diversified private sector  with publishing companies guaranteeing extensive editorial independence." 

Ireland moved Denmark from second to third place. "The overall climate for press  freedom in Ireland is positive, with journalists able to work freely and without  interference. Concerns remain, however, about the future funding of the media,  including public service broadcaster RTђ."

China ranks 179th, dropping 4 places." The People's Republic of China (PRC) is the world's largest  prison for journalists, and its regime conducts a campaign of repression against journalism and the  right to information worldwide."

And the last, 180th place is occupied by North Korea. "The Democratic People's Republic of Korea  (DPRK), one of the worlds' most authoritarian regimes, tightly controls information and strictly  prohibits independent journalism."