Unfortunately, overall press freedom has declined. According to RSF, for the first time in its history, “over half of the world’s countries now fall into the ‘difficult’ or ‘very serious’ categories for press freedom. In 25 years, the average score of all 180 countries and territories surveyed in the Index has never been so low.”

Negative changes have been pronounced in the Americas, where “the situation has evolved significantly.” The US is now in 64th place globally, falling seven spots in one year. The US ranks behind Namibia (23), South Africa (21), Costa Rica (38), and Canada (20). It has fallen below even war-torn countries like Ukraine (55), which managed to improve its own position by seven places in one year.