Written by: Jonathan Jordan Staff of Research and Development

In the first half of 2025, journalism was rife with numerous challenges to its integrity. Press freedom reached a historical low worldwide as journalists’ liberties are being restricted through many means, from political repression to financial strain. This new situation could limit the media’s role in upholding accountability and transparency. As a result, global democratic institutions could be threatened as the people lack access to high-quality and independent sources of information.

Image 1. Reporters Without Borders supporter protests in front of the Brandenburg Gate.
Source: International Consortium of Investigative Journalists

Reporters without Borders (RSF), a non-profit government organization (NGO), released a report of this year’s Press Freedom Index on May 2, 2025. The report outlines a worrying decrease of press freedom in many states, including in so-called democratic countries, such as the United States and Germany. This decay is so severe that RSF categorized press freedom to be in a “difficult situation” for the first time in the index’s history. RSF stated that more than half of the world’s population currently lives in countries with “very serious” threats to press freedom.

In 2013, the percentage of countries with adequate media freedom was 14,4%. However, that number has dropped to only 3,89% in 2025. Two of the biggest decreases were experienced by Argentina and Tunisia, which dropped 21 and 11 places respectively in the index. Each year since 2013, the index score of global press freedom has remained stagnant. However, after 2021, it has scored lower each year, with 2023 being the only exception of positive, albeit minor, growth.

Economic Hardships and Repression

RSF attributed this neglect of press liberty to a few factors, the main one being a wave of financial strains faced by news media outlets, forcing them to choose between survival or editorial independence. This development is due to the absence of support from economies to nurture press freedom. In the United States, for example, some journalists receive inadequate pay for their work, and local outlets are shutting down. Apart from that, executive orders signed by President Trump to end foreign aid affected several independent media outlets, such as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. The dominance of social media platforms, like Google, Twitter, and Instagram, have also contributed to this issue alongside the spread of disinformation. 

Anne Bocandé, RSF’s Editorial Director, stated, “When news media are financially strained, they are drawn into a race to attract audiences at the expense of quality reporting, and can fall prey to the oligarchs and public authorities who seek to exploit them.”

Besides financial concerns, violent crackdowns against journalists are also to blame for the index’s low scores. This is particularly true in conflict zones, such as Gaza, where Israel has destroyed newsrooms, killed nearly 200 journalists, and even censored their own media. 

Another instance is the war in Ukraine. Russian journalists critical of what Putin called a “special military operation” have been arrested or have vanished from public view. In fact, RSF has conducted several missions to smuggle repressed journalists out of Russia. Ekaterina Barabash, for example, recently escaped to France with the help of the international NGO. “Over the years, the hatred has stopped burning, stopped suffocating me – it has hardened, grown stronger and burns with a steady flame that nothing can extinguish,” she said.

Indonesia Falls Again

Indonesia slipped again for the 2nd consecutive time from 111th place with a score of 51,15 in 2024 to 127th place with a score of 44,13 this year on the index. This aligns with data from AJI (Alliance of Independent Journalists), which states that 38 cases of violence against journalists have occurred from January to May 2025, already more than half of the 74 attacks that happened last year. Another data from the Press Council of Indonesia shows a negative trend in the national press freedom index (IKP) from 2022 to 2024. In 2022, the score was 77,88 and in 2024, it was 69,36.

Attacks against journalists filled this year’s events. For example, earlier this year, Tempo, a national weekly news magazine, infamously experienced a number of threats and attacks. A pig’s head and decapitated mice were sent to its office on March 19 and 22 respectively, targeted at its political journalists. A month later, its website experienced a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack after publishing a report on the Indonesian online gambling ring in Cambodia, which implicated a number of politicians.

Agnès Callamard, Secretary-General of Amnesty International, describes this degeneration when she said, “Authoritarians often begin by weakening the media, making it financially unstable for independent outlets to survive, and progressively silencing them.”

Implications for the Future

Press freedom is facing a massive obstacle in 2025. The right to be informed of and distribute information and ideas has been recognized in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. However, considering the trend since 2013, freedom of the media will likely have to contend with growing problems in the future. This can have very serious implications.

Freedom of journalism is a necessary component for a healthy and excellent democracy. Press freedom promotes government accountability and serves as a watchdog against any acts that strays from public good. In particular, the media is effective at decreasing corruption among officials. A free press also provides unbridled, quality information for constituents in a democracy, which is very important, considering the people are the main pillars of democratic institutions. Without these, democracies are at risk of transforming into authoritarian regimes. Corruption and violations of rights, for example, can be hidden easier without an independent press.

In a related context, a free press can provide economic benefits. The press also ensures accuracy in covering economic events. This can reduce risks in the financial system, according to a study done by Kladakis dan Skouralis. Apart from that, with control of corruption, the financial management of nations will improve and so will the welfare of its citizens. GDP per capita will increase along with higher life satisfaction. The trend of decreasing freedom could mean weaker economies and life conditions across the world.

References

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France 24. (2025, May 5). Reporters without Borders smuggles Russian journalist critical of Ukraine war to France. France 24. https://www.france24.com/en/france/20250505-reporters-without-borders-smuggles-russian-journalist-critical-ukraine-war-france-rsf.

Godbole, T. (2025, May 2). Global Press Freedom at ‘all-time low’ in 2025, RSF says. Deutsche Welle. https://www.dw.com/en/global-press-freedom-at-all-time-low-in-2025-rsf-says/a-72411797.

RSF. (2025, May 2). RSF World Press Freedom Index 2025: economic fragility a leading threat to press freedom. RSF. https://rsf.org/en/rsf-world-press-freedom-index-2025-economic-fragility-leading-threat-press-freedom.

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Tempo. (2025, May 3). RSF Index: Economic Pressures Drive Sharp Decline in Global Press Freedom. Tempo. https://en.tempo.co/read/2003161/rsf-index-economic-pressures-drive-sharp-decline-in-global-press-freedom.

Uli, M. (2025, May 5). Decline in Indonesia’s press freedom alarming. The Jakarta Post. https://www.thejakartapost.com/indonesia/2025/05/05/decline-in-indonesias-press-freedom-alarming.html.