Reporters Without Borders (RSF) sounds alarm on declining press freedom on eve of World Press Freedom Day

If evidence were needed for what happens when the economic viability of the independent press is undermined, here, in worrying detail, is the annual RSF report declaring that “the global state of press freedom is now classified as a “difficult situation” for the first time in the history of the Index.”

RSF Editorial Director Anne Bocandé says: “…The media economy must urgently be restored to a state that is conducive to journalism and ensures the production of reliable information, which is inherently costly. Solutions exist and must be deployed on a large scale. The media’s financial independence is a necessary condition for ensuring free, trustworthy information that serves the public interest.”

The report reveals that:

‘For the first time in the history of the Index, the conditions for practicing journalism are “difficult” or “very serious” in over half of the world’s countries and only satisfactory in fewer than one in four.

• •According to data collected by RSF for the 2025 World Press Freedom Index, in 160 out of the 180 countries assessed, media outlets achieve financial stability “with difficulty” — or “not at all.”

• Worse, news outlets are shutting down due to economic hardship in nearly a third of countries globally. This is the case in the United States(57th, down  2 places) Tunisia (129th, down 11 places) and Argentina(87th, down 21 places).’

• Europe might be the best region globally for press freedom, with the top-ranked countries being European, including Norway, Estonia, and the Netherlands. However, the overall situation in Europe is deteriorating, with press freedom worsening even within the EU.

On World Press Freedom day we must of course call out the blatant free-riding on press content by Big Tech, compounded by the  scraping and use of copyrighted content without transparency, permission or payment by AI developers which includes the incumbent Big Tech companies.  If the EU AI Act is robustly implemented, it could at least start to address this wholesale free riding on editorial media, and future proof how Europe’s professional press content is used by AI, going forward.  

The EPC has also long called for more robust measures against disinformation, harmful content and state sponsored propaganda, and for recognition of the important role of professional journalists as essential fact-checkers. We stress the need for human oversight when deploying AI to combat the escalation of disinformation and fake news. The role of journalism in the sustainability of democracy is undeniable and, wherever we see independent journalism stifled and undermined, we see diminished democracy, increased autocracy and the descent into a media landscape populated by mis- and disinformation, state propaganda and downright lies.

Paying lip service to the need for a free press won’t cut it.  There needs to be unambiguous laws and messaging from decision makers that professional news media content is not a free-for-all resource to build AI empires. The journalists and the businesses behind the professional content need regulators to use brave voices to stand up against powerful companies that are motivated purely by clicks and money. 

We sincerely hope that this report, which illustrates the dramatic and alarming decline in press freedom unfolding before our very eyes, will be the catalyst required for policy makers to take the problem seriously, use the tools they have on their disposal and act now to address the crisis.