20/05/2026
India slipped to 157th place out of 180 countries in the 2026 World Press Freedom Index, according to the latest report of media watchdog Reporters Sans Frontières. The country was ranked 151st in 2025.
India continues to remain in the “very serious” category, according to the non-government organisation, which has been publishing the World Press Freedom Index since 2002.
The organisation said that “legal frameworks are increasingly being weaponised to silence newsrooms” even in democratic countries.
“In India, judicial harassment of independent media is intensifying, driven by the growing use of criminal statutes – defamation and national security laws among them – directly targeting journalists,” said the organisation, known in English as Reporters Without Borders.
The global media watchdog also noted that, for the first time since the index began, more than half of the countries assessed fall under the “difficult” or “very serious” categories for press freedom. It added that only 13.7% of countries were placed in these categories when the index was first launched in 2002.
The organisation further said that the average press freedom score across the 180 countries and territories surveyed had reached its lowest level ever.
Among India’s neighbours, Nepal ranked 87th, followed by the Maldives at 108th, Sri Lanka at 134th, Bhutan at 150th, Bangladesh at 152nd and Pakistan at 153rd. India performed better than Myanmar, which ranked 166th, Afghanistan at 175th and China at 178th.
Norway, the Netherlands and Estonia secured the top three positions in the index.
