World Press Freedom Index 2020: India Drops 2 Places

India has dropped two places on the World Press Freedom Index 2020, now ranking at 142 out of 180 countries. The report was released on April 21 in the annual Reporters without borders analysis.

‘World Press Freedom Index 2020’ said as there were no murders of journalists in India in 2019 as compared to 6 in 2018, it showed that the security system in India seemed to have improved.

“However, there have been constant press freedom violations, including police violence against journalists, ambushes by political activists, and reprisals instigated by criminal groups or corrupt local officials,” it said.

“However, there have been constant press freedom violations, including police violence against journalists, ambushes by political activists, and reprisals instigated by criminal groups or corrupt local officials,” it said.

It attributed the decline in index to “pressure on the media to toe the Hindu nationalist government’s line”.

“The campaigns are particularly virulent when the targets are women,” it said.

Paris-based Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF), or Reporters Without Borders, is a non-profit organisation that works to document and combat attacks on journalists around the world.

Highlights:

With a report identifying a smaller number of murder cases of journalists in India
ambushes by political activists
constant press freedom violations
it acknowledged the public violence against journalists
reprisals instigated by corrupt police officials or criminal groups.

The reports of hate campaigns against journalists on the social networking site who write about the issues that annoy Hindutva followers are also alarming.

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South Asia in general features poorly on the index, with Pakistan dropping three places to 145, and Bangladesh dropping one place to 151. Norway is ranked first in the Index for the fourth year running China at 177th position.

Reporters without borders also known as Reporters sans frontieres (RSF) is a non-profit organisation that works to document attacks on journalists around the world. Its mandate is to promote free, independent and pluralistic journalism and to defend media workers. South Asia is generally featured poorly in the World Press Freedom Index.