US President Donald Trump overseeing ‘troubling deterioration’ in press freedom in US, Reporters Without Borders says.
Palestine has become the world’s most dangerous state for journalists amid Israel’s war on Gaza, with dozens of reporters likely killed specifically due to their work, a media freedom watchdog has said.
Israeli forces killed nearly 200 journalists in the first 18 months of the war, at least 42 of whom were slain while doing their job, Reporters Without Borders said on Friday as it released its World Press Freedom Index 2025.
“Trapped in the enclave, journalists in Gaza have no shelter and lack everything, including food and water,” said the Paris-based group, which is also known by its French acronym RSF.
“In the West Bank, journalists are routinely harassed and attacked by both settlers and Israeli forces, but repression reached new heights with a wave of arrests after 7 October, when impunity for crimes committed against journalists became a new rule.”
Journalists suspected of collaborating with Israel are also hampered in their work by Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, while a cybercrime law adopted by the Palestinian Authority limits freedom of expression and freedom of the press, RSF said in its report.
Palestine ranked 163rd for press freedom in the latest index, a drop of six places from 2024.
Of 180 jurisdictions, 112 saw declines in press freedom, with the average score globally falling to a record low of 55 points, according to the report.
The United States dropped two places to a record low of 57, with the watchdog accusing US President Donald Trump of overseeing a “troubling deterioration in press freedom”.
“President Donald Trump was elected to a second term after a campaign in which he denigrated the press on a daily basis and made explicit threats to weaponize the federal government against the media,” RSF said.
“His early moves in his second mandate to politicise the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), ban The Associated Press from the White House, or dismantle the US Agency for Global Media, for example, have jeopardised the country’s news outlets and indicate that he intends to follow through on his threats, setting up a potential crisis for American journalism.”
Israel dropped 11 places to 112th, with Reporters Without Borders pointing to growing restrictions on press freedom, media plurality and editorial independence since the start of the war in Gaza.
“Since 2021, only journalists working for Channel 14, a media outlet that covers Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a favourable light, have been granted interviews with the country’s leader, who accuses the Israeli press of conspiring against him,” the group said.
“In 2024, the Minister of Communication called on the government to boycott Haaretz, one of the few newspapers to criticise Netanyahu’s policies, including the massacre of civilians in Gaza – a topic that is largely suppressed.”
Eritrea was the lowest-ranked jurisdiction, just behind North Korea and China.
Norway was ranked first for press freedom, followed by Estonia, the Netherlands and Sweden.