Reporters Without Borders published the 2021 edition of its world press freedom ranking on Tuesday.

The NGO considers in particular that the Covid-19 pandemic represented "a form of opportunity for states which have been able to restrict press freedom". 

The exercise of journalism, "the main vaccine" against disinformation in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, is "totally or partially blocked" in more than 130 countries, warns Reporters Without Borders (RSF), which published the 2021 edition of its ranking on Tuesday world press freedom.

In total, 73% of the 180 countries assessed by the NGO are characterized by situations deemed "very serious", "difficult" or "problematic" for journalists, and are thus classified as black, red or orange on the world map. freedom of the press.

If this proportion remains stable over one year, only 12 countries out of 180, or 7%, against 8% last year, show a "good situation".

This "white zone" has "never" been "so small since 2013", according to RSF.

The pandemic has exacerbated repression in some countries

In addition, the Covid-19 pandemic represented "a form of opportunity for states that have been able to restrict press freedom," RSF secretary general Christophe Deloire told AFP.

It has thus exacerbated the repression in the most "muzzled" countries such as Iran (174th, -1), Saudi Arabia (170th), Egypt (166th) or Syria (173rd, +1), d 'after the NGO.

It also "caused a huge closure of access" to the field and to sources of information for journalists, insists Christophe Deloire.

The situation is all the more worrying as journalism is the main bulwark against the "virality of disinformation", sometimes fueled by governments themselves.

Presidents Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil (111th, -4) and Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela (148th, -1) have thus "promoted drugs whose effectiveness has never been proven by the medical world," recalls RSF. 

France 34th 

At the bottom of the ranking are still China (177th), ahead of Turkmenistan (178th, +1), North Korea (179th, +1) and Eritrea (180th, -2).

At the top of the table, Norway retains its first place for the fifth consecutive year, ahead of Finland and Sweden, which has once again become third to the detriment of Denmark (4th, -1).

If Europe remains the safest region, aggressions and abusive arrests have multiplied, especially in Germany (13th, -2), in France (34th) during demonstrations against the "global security" bill, in Italy (41st), Poland (64th, -2), Greece (70th, -5), Serbia (93rd) and Bulgaria (112th, -1).