Thailand drops to “difficult” in RSF World Press Freedom Index
Thailand has been ranked 92nd in Reporters Without Borders (RSF)’s 2026 World Press Freedom Index, 7 places below its 2025 ranking, and is now rated as “difficult.”RSF noted that the Asia-Pacific is one of the most repressive regions in the world, with 21 out of the 32 countries rated as either “difficult” or “very serious,” largely due to legal attacks against the press and the spread of censorship and propaganda tactics developed by authoritarian regimes such as China. RSF noted that no country in the region features in the top 20 of the Index, and that even democratic countries are facing challenges upholding the right to reliable information.In Thailand, as well as in neighboring countries like Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia, journalists are routinely subjected to Strategic Lawsuits against Public Participation (SLAPPs), which RSF said are typically brought on by political or economic elites exploiting a legal system that does not provide sufficient protection for the press.At the global level, the average score of all 180 countries surveyed in the Index is the lowest it has ever been since RSF began publishing the Index, with more than half of the countries now categorized as either “difficult” or “very serious” for press freedom.Of the five indicators the RSF uses to assess press freedom, the legal indicator has seen the sharpest decline over the past year, a sign that journalism is becoming increasingly criminalized. 110 out of 180 countries saw their legal indicator score declined between 2025 and 2026. In many countries, including the US and Russia, national security laws are being abused to suppress journalists. Meanwhile, in more than 80% of the countries included in the Index, protection mechanisms are seen as either non-existent or ineffective.“By providing a retrospective of the past 25 years, RSF isn’t just looking back — it’s looking squarely at the future with a simple question: how much longer will we tolerate the suffocation of journalism, the systematic obstruction of reporters and the continued erosion of press freedom?” said RSF editorial director Anne Bocandé.Bocandé said that authoritarian states, complicit or incompetent political powers, predatory economic actors, and under-regulated online platforms are “directly and overwhelmingly” difficult for the decline in global press freedom. Effective protection measures for journalists are now essential, and must starts with ending the criminalization of journalism, including SLAPP lawsuits and misuse of national security laws.“Current protection mechanisms are not strong enough; international law is being undermined and impunity is rife,” said Bocandé.“We need firm guarantees and meaningful sanctions. The ball is in the court of democracies and their citizens. It is up to them to stand in the way of those who seek to silence the press. The spread of authoritarianism isn’t inevitable”
eng editor 1
Fri, 2026-05-01 - 12:38
News
press freedom
Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation (SLAPP)
Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
World press freedom index
