The conditions for practicing journalism are “adverse” in 7 out of 10 countries and satisfactory in just 3 out of 10, according to the NGO's annual classification, which covers 180 States and territories.
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Norway and North Korea remain first and last, according to this year's edition of the report.
However, one of the most significant changes occurs, according to RSF, in Brazil, which after the departure of former president Jair Bolsonaro, who “systematically attacked journalists and the media throughout his term”, rose 18 positions and occupies the 92nd place.
The 2023 edition emphasizes the consequences of misinformation.
In 118 countries, that is, in two thirds of those evaluated on the list, the majority of experts who responded to the questionThe report reports “the involvement of political actors from their countries in massive disinformation or propaganda campaigns”, specifies the NGO.
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The text points out “the dramatic effects” on press freedom of the “deception industry in the digital ecosystem”.
“It is the industry that allows disinformation to be produced, distributed or amplified,” Christophe Deloire, secretary general of RSF, told AFP.
“Flood of misinformation”
In his opinion, this is the case of “leaders of digital platforms who make jokes by distributing propaganda or false information”, and whose example is the owner of Twitter, Elon Musk.
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Another phenomenon that affects the press is false content generated by artificial intelligence (AI).
"Midjourney, an AI program that generates very high definition images, supplies social networks with increasingly credible and undetectable fakes”, emphasizes RSF, listing examples of fake images of Donald Trump’s arrest “that have gone viral”.
The NGO also warns that “the disinformation industry spreads manipulative productions on a large scale” through specialized companies, sometimes on behalf of governments.
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“Reliable information is submerged in a deluge of misinformation”, adds Deloire, for whom “we see less and less the differences between what is real and what is artificial, between what is true and what is false”.
“One of the biggest challenges is to apply democratic principles in this gigantic market regarding attention and content”, he estimates.
Instability in Latin America
In Latin America, Brazil's recovery is exceptional.
“The polarization and institutional instability” that affect several countries in the region “foment hostility and distrust towards media outlets”, warns RSF.
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On the press freedom map, the region no longer has any country in green, that is, with a “good” situation.
Costa Rica, which remained the last bastion, fell 15 positions and occupies 23rd place.
Peru, where journalists “pay a high price for persistent political instability”, according to the NGO, fell 33 positions, to 110th place.
The organization also points out that Mexico (128th) records the highest number of missing journalists in the world (28 in 20 years).
Among the worst ranked are Nicaragua (158th; +2), where “independent journalists are forced to work underground or in exile”, according to RSF, and Cuba (172nd; +1).
Venezuela remains in 159th place, and Honduras drops four positions, to 169th.
In countries where the political scenario is less unstable, the situation has also worsened, as a result of “the use of disinformation and propaganda, almost always linked to violence on the networks against journalists and media outlets”, notes the report.
Uruguay (52nd; -8) and Argentina (40th; -11) suffer the impact of this trend, he mentions.
Spain has fallen four places and is in 36th place in the world rankings.
RSF prepares the classification based on a “quantitative count of attacks committed against journalists” and a “qualitative analysis” based on responses from press freedom experts (journalists, researchers, university professors, human rights defenders…) to a questionary.
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