New Ranking by Reporters Without Borders on Media Freedom; Iran at the Bottom

On Wednesday, May 3, coinciding with World Press Freedom Day, Reporters Without Borders released its new report on media freedom for the year 2023. Iran ranks 177th among 180 countries worldwide, with only Vietnam, China, and North Korea having worse conditions. Reporters Without Borders described the state of media freedom in Iran as 'alarming' and labeled the Islamic Republic as 'one of the most repressive governments in the world' in this regard. The organization states that in Iran, in addition to widespread restrictions and censorship on the press regarding information dissemination, journalists face threats, summons, arbitrary arrests, 'unfair' trials, and prison sentences. The report also mentions pressures, online harassment, and security threats from the Iranian government against journalists abroad. The Islamic Republic has consistently ranked among the lowest in media freedom due to censorship and pressure on media personnel in recent years. After the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of the morality police in September 2022, oversight and censorship of the media and security crackdowns on journalists have intensified. In the past eight months, around 70 journalists have been arrested and imprisoned, and several others have been summoned and threatened by security agencies. Currently, several journalists are either imprisoned or facing prison sentences. Niloufar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi, reporters for the 'Shargh' and 'Ham-Mihan' newspapers, have been detained for over seven months and are accused of 'collaborating with the U.S. government,' 'conspiracy to commit a crime against national security,' and 'propaganda against the regime.' The U.S. State Department has stated that these two journalists have had no connection with the country, and their families have denied all allegations in the case. Keyvan Samimi, a 74-year-old journalist, was arrested again two weeks ago, but the reason for his arrest or charges against him have not yet been disclosed. The International Federation of Journalists reported a week ago on the summons of three journalists in Tehran, Saeedeh Shafiei, Mehrnoush Zarei, and Nasim Soltanbeigi, to Evin Prosecutor's Office. Alongside these summons and arrests, the prison sentence of Rouhollah Nakhaei, a former journalist for 'Shargh,' was also upheld in Branch 36 of the Tehran Court of Appeals. He was sentenced to two years and seven months in prison for 'conspiracy against national security' and 'propaganda against the regime,' with two years of that sentence being enforceable. Reporters Without Borders has stated that the Islamic Republic of Iran is one of the largest prisons for journalists in the world. In the new ranking of media freedom by Reporters Without Borders for this year, Norway has secured the first place for the seventh consecutive year. Ireland and Denmark ranked second and third in the media freedom table. North Korea remains at the bottom of this table as in previous years. Russia has fallen nine places to rank 164, attributed to the way media has been censored regarding its military invasion of Ukraine. The United States has dropped three places from last year to rank 45, primarily due to the murder of two journalists in Las Vegas and Orlando. According to this report, Mexico ranks 128th with the highest number of missing journalists in the world. Turkey's rank has been reported as 165 due to increased pressure from Erdogan's government on journalists and media ahead of elections in the country. The Middle East and North Africa have been assessed as the 'most dangerous' region for journalists, with half of its countries, including Iran, Syria, Egypt, Yemen, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia, classified as having a 'very bad' status in this ranking. In the Middle East, Qatar is the only country that has risen 14 places to rank 105, attributed to reduced media restrictions during the coverage of the World Cup in the country. Reporters Without Borders considers various indicators for ranking media freedom in countries worldwide, including the degree of media freedom in covering political, economic, and social news, restrictive laws in this area, and security threats and violence against journalists.