Dharamshala — Reporter's Without Borders (RSF) released it's annual report of the World Press Freedom Index on Friday. The report said that state of Press Freedom is at its lowest point in the history of RFS index in 25 years and it is the “very serious”. China is the third worst for the press freedom and the world's largest prison for journalists with 113 detaining. The Chinese government uses surveillance, coercion, intimidation and harassment to keep independent journalists from reporting on issues it deems “sensitive”.
Reporter's Without Borders (RSF) released it's annual report of the World Press Freedom Index on April 30, 2026, ahead of the World Press Freedom Day. RSF found out that in the last 25 years, press freedom has been gradually deteriorating, decline, difficult into "very serious”, in the 180 countries and territories, which showing in the the World Press Freedom Index.
China has been placed among the worst countries and ranked 178th out of a total of 180 nations in Reporters Without Borders (RSF) World Press Freedom Index 2026, and has been warned by the renowned world press freedom watchdog that China belongs among the most repressive autocratic regimes in the world.
“By providing a retrospective of the past 25 years, RSF isn’t just looking back; the NGO is looking squarely to the future with a simple question in mind: how much longer are we going to tolerate the stifling of journalism, the systematic obstruction of journalists and the continued erosion of press freedom? Although attacks on the right to information are more diverse and sophisticated, their perpetrators are now operating in plain sight. Authoritarian states, complicit and incompetent political powers, predatory economic actors and under-regulated platforms are directly and overwhelmingly responsible for the global decline in press freedom. Given this context, inaction is a form of complicity. Asserting principles alone is no longer enough. Effective measures to protect journalists are essential and must be seen as a catalyst for change, starting with putting an end to the criminalisation of journalism: the misuse of national security laws, SLAPPs, and the systematic obstruction of those who investigate, expose and name names. Current protection mechanisms are not strong enough; international law is being undermined and impunity is rife. We need firm guarantees and meaningful sanctions. The ball is in the court of democracies and their citizens. It is up to them to stand in the way of those who seek to silence the press. The spread of authoritarianism isn’t inevitable," said Anne Bocandé, Editorial Director of RSF.
"Since RSF began publishing the World Press Freedom Index 25 years ago, press freedom has been gradually deteriorating. This decline is visible on the Index’s map, which turns redder every year. Journalists are still being killed and imprisoned for their work, but the tactics undermining press freedom are evolving. Journalism is being asphyxiated by hostile political discourse towards reporters, weakened by a faltering media economy, and squeezed by laws being used as weapons against the press," report of RSF stated.
"The overall average score of all the countries assessed has never been so low. In over half of the world’s countries and territories (52.2%), the state of press freedom is categorised as “difficult” or “very serious”, it added.
"Elsewhere, the state of press freedom has hardly changed as dictatorial regimes keep it in a deadlock. This is the case in China, North Korea and Eritrea, where journalist Dawit Isaak has been locked up without trial for 25 years," the report explained.
The report stated, "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. Currently, China is detaining 113 journalists."
"Xi Jinping, leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in power since 2012, has restored a media culture worthy of the Maoist era, in which freely accessing information has become a crime and providing information an even greater transgression. China’s state and privately owned media are under the CCP’s ever-tightening control, while the administration creates more and more obstacles for foreign reporters," RSF said.
RSF's report stated,"Major Chinese media groups, such as Xinhua News Agency, China Central Television (CCTV), China National Radio (CNR), and newspapers China Daily, People’s Daily and the Global Times, are state-owned and directly controlled by the authorities. The Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party sends a detailed notice to all media every day that includes editorial guidelines and censored topics. The state-owned China Global Television Network (CGTN) and Radio China International (RCI) spread the regime’s propaganda all around the world."
While explaining the media in the eyes of CCP and political context, the report said," In the eyes of the regime, the media’s function is to be the party’s mouthpiece and to impart state propaganda. Independent journalists and bloggers who dare to report “sensitive” information are often placed under surveillance, harassed, detained, and, in some cases, tortured. To receive and renew their press cards, journalists must download the Study Xi, Strengthen the Country propaganda application that can collect their personal data."
The report said while explaing the legal framework for the journalists,"The constitution of the People’s Republic of China guarantees “freedom of speech [and] of the press” but the regime routinely violates the right to information, in total impunity. To further silence journalists, it accuses them of “espionage”, “subversion”, or “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”, three “pocket crimes'', a term used by Chinese law experts to describe offences that are so broadly defined that they can be applied to almost any activity. Independent journalists can also be legally placed in solitary confinement for six months under “Residential Surveillance at a Designated Location” (“RSDL”) in China’s “black prisons”, where they are deprived of legal representation and may be subjected to torture."
While speaking about the economic context of Media industry, the report said,"The industry is very profitable, but almost entirely controlled by the government and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which is considering passing a law to ban all private investment in the media. If passed, this law could cement existing restrictions and tighten the regime’s grip on the media as well as silence remaining independent voices."
"Xi Jinping, leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in power since 2012, has restored a media culture worthy of the Maoist era, in which freely accessing information has become a crime and providing information an even greater transgression. China’s state and privately owned media are under the CCP’s ever-tightening control, while the administration creates more and more obstacles for foreign reporters," RFS said.
While reporting on the safety journalists in China, the report states,"The Chinese regime uses surveillance, coercion, intimidation and harassment to keep independent journalists from reporting on issues it deems “sensitive”. China is the world’s largest jailer of journalists, with more than 100 currently detained."
