The UK has just ranked below Jamaica, Latvia and Ghana for levels of press freedom according to new global study.
“Too often steps taken in the name of national security trample press freedom,” says advocacy group
Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
The evidence detailed by RSF showed that the UK is one of the worst counties in western Europe for freedom of the press.
Ranked 33rd from a list of 180 countries, Britain was placed behind Jamaica, Surinam, Namibia, South Africa and Lichtenstein in the 2019 World Press Freedom Index.
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The UK ranks lower than all other western European nations except Italy.
“We should hold ourselves to a higher standard, and seek to be one of the best, not worst-performing countries in western Europe,” said RSF’s UK director Rebecca Vincent. “Too often steps taken in the name of national security trample press freedom.”
The US slipped three places to 48th in the world as a result of its increasingly hostile climate towards journalists. The report said that never before have US reporters been subjected to so many death threats or turned so often to private security for protection.
🔴 #RSFIndex ¦ RSF has unveiled its 2019 World #PressFreedom Index:
1: Norway🇳🇴
2: Finland🇫🇮
3: Sweden🇸🇪
13: Germany🇩🇪
32nd: France🇫🇷
33: United Kingdom🇬🇧
48: United States🇺🇸
67: Japan🇯🇵
101: Lebanon🇱🇧
105: Brazil🇧🇷
179: North Korea🇰🇵
180: Turkmenistan🇹🇲https://t.co/eptg8OhCHR pic.twitter.com/E1wWwKb6mZ— RSF (@RSF_inter) April 18, 2019
