India continues to fare poorly on World Press Freedom Index, finds place in ‘bad’ category again

Even as a resurgent Corona pandemic ravages the country, a report released by Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has said that India continued to remain in “bad” category for the second year in a row on World Press Freedom Index.

Issued by the RSF, the World Press Freedom Index 2021 divided countries in ‘very bad’, ‘bad’ and ‘problematic’ categories. India continued to remain in the ‘bad’ category.

As per the RSF, journalism is completely or partly blocked in 73% of the 180 countries.

Last year, RSF had concluded that pressure on the media to toe the govt’s line was the reason behind India’s poor performance on the global press freedom index.

The latest RSF report said journalism was ‘the main vaccine against disinformation’.

“Journalism is the best vaccine against disinformation. Unfortunately, its production and distribution is too often blocked by political, economic, technological and, sometimes, even cultural factors. In response to the virality of disinformation across borders, on digital platforms and via social media, journalism provides the most effective means of ensuring that  public debate is based on a diverse range of established facts,” stated the report issued by the RSF.