India ranks below Pakistan at 159 among 180 countries in World Press Freedom Index: 'Unofficial state of emergency'
ALSO READ:India slips 11 positions on World Press Freedom Index Meanwhile, Pakistan ranked seven spots above India at 152. It had ranked 150 in 2023. Norway topped the ranking , while Denmark was on the second rank in World Press Freedom Index.
Sweden ranked third on the list. In its analysis, the RSF claimed that "press freedom is in crisis in 'the world’s largest democracy' – that is India, which has been ruled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi since 2014. As per the report, nine journalists and one media worker have been detained in India as of today, while no journalist/media worker has been killed in the country since January 2024.
The report added that some countries’ improved rankings in the Index "are misleading inasmuch as their scores fell and the Index rises were the result of falls by countries previously above them". "This is the case with India (159th), which was pushed up two places despite recently adopting more draconian laws," the report said. It said the Modi govt "has introduced several new laws that will give the government extraordinary power to control the media, censor news and silence critics, including the 2023 Telecommunications Act, the 2023 draft Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill, and the 2023 Digital Personal Data Protection Act".
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