India dropped two places on the global Press Freedom Index. It has been ranked 142 out of 180 countries in the annual Reporters Without Borders’ analysis.
As reported in the Economic Times, according to the World Press Freedom Index 2020, “there have been no murders of journalists in India in 2019, as against the figure six murders in the year 2018. The security situation seems to have improved. However, there are been several occasions wherein the freedom designated to press have been violated.”
Journalists have incurred police brutality and violence on account of their expression. There have been “ambushes by political activists, and reprisals instigated by criminal groups or corrupt local officials,” according to the report.
There has been immense pressure on the media to toe lines with the Hindu nationalist government. Moreover, many “coordinated hate campaigns,” have been launched on social networking platforms against journalists who have spoken on subjects of dissent, only to have their articles vilified online.
Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF), or Reporters Without Borders, is a non-profit organisation that works to document and tackle attacks on journalists all over the world.
Overall, South Asia features poorly on the index, with India slipping two positions compared to 2019, Pakistan dropping three places to 145, and Bangladesh dropping one place to 151.
Norway is ranked first in the Index for the fourth running year, while China is at 177th position, just about three places above North Korea, which stands at 180th.