Media: Press freedom at its lowest in 50 years, warns report
Press freedom has deteriorated significantly over the past five years worldwide and has reached its lowest point in 50 years, according to a benchmark report on democracy published Thursday, September 11. "The current state of democracy is worrying," said Kevin Casas-Zamora, secretary general of the Stockholm-based think tank International Idea.
More than one in two countries worldwide (54%) recorded a decline in one of the five key indicators of what defines a democracy between 2019 and 2024, according to the report.
"Probably the most important finding of our report is the very serious deterioration of press freedom around the world," adds Kevin Casas-Zamora. Between 2019 and 2024, it experienced "its largest decline in the last 50 years." "We have never seen such a serious deterioration in a key indicator of democratic health," he said.
Press freedom has deteriorated in 43 countries across all continents, including 15 in Africa and 15 in Europe. "A toxic mix is emerging, involving, on the one hand, heavy-handed government interventions, some of which are a legacy of the pandemic," says Kevin Casas-Zamora. On the other hand, "there is the very negative impact of disinformation, some of which is real and some of which is used as a pretext by governments to restrict press freedom," he adds.
Idea is also concerned about the global phenomenon of concentration of traditional media , but also about "the disappearance in many countries of local media which play a very important role in supporting democratic debate," says Kevin Casas-Zamora.
Afghanistan, Burkina Faso and Burma, already low-ranked, recorded the biggest declines in this regard. The fourth biggest decline came from South Korea, according to the report, which cites "the increase in defamation lawsuits brought by the government and its political allies against journalists, and searches of journalists' homes."
The report does not include the first effects of Donald Trump's second term , but "some of the things we saw during the elections at the end of last year and in the first months of 2025 are quite worrying," anticipates Kevin Casas-Zamora. "Since what happens in the United States tends to spread globally, this does not bode well for democracy in the world," he concludes.
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