Every year, on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, celebrated on May 3, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has established its world ranking of press freedom by country, which is this year 2023 in its 21st edition.
The finding that emerges from the ranking is worrying: the conditions for exercising the profession of journalist are “ satisfactory ” in only three out of ten countries.
Algeria, which does better than Morocco, but less well than Tunisia, is classified in the category of countries where the press freedom situation is considered “difficult”.
The 180 countries and territories concerned by the ranking are classified into four categories according to the assessment made of the press freedom situation: “very serious”, “difficult”, “problematic”, “good” and “rather good”.
Only 52 countries emerge in these last two categories, mainly countries in Europe and North America. In the wrong categories, there are 55 countries (problematic), 42 countries (difficult) and 31 (very serious).
The RSF report mentions “instability”, “volatility” and unprecedented changes” which, according to the secretary general of the NGO, Christophe Deloire, can be explained by “the increased aggressiveness of the power in many countries and growing animosity towards journalists” and “the growth of the sham industry, which shapes and distributes disinformation”.
The report also highlights the upheavals caused by the “spectacular” development of artificial intelligence. Referring to “the arbitrary and censitary logic” of Twitter boss Elon Musk, Deloire believes that these actions have demonstrated that “platforms are quicksand for journalists”.
RSF Report 2023: Algeria’s ranking
The right to information is put “in jeopardy” by disinformation, we read in the report, which highlights that in 118 countries, i.e. two out of three countries, respondents reported the involvement of political actors in mass disinformation or propaganda campaigns, weakening “quality journalism”.
When it comes to countries where press freedom is doing well, Norway still tops the rankings for the seventh consecutive year, followed by Ireland and Denmark. The rest of the top 10 is completed by Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Estonia, Portugal, and East Timor. The first African country in the ranking is Namibia, which comes in 22nd place, better than France (24th ), the United Kingdom (26th ), or the United States (45th ). Note also the good ranking of Cape Verde and Seychelles (33rd and 34 th respectively).
Mauritania is the highest ranked Arab country (86th ), if we exclude the Comoros (75th ), followed by Qatar 105th and Lebanon 119th.
Algeria comes in 136th place, in the category of countries where the press freedom situation is considered difficult. Compared to the other Maghreb countries, Algeria is overtaken by Tunisia (121st ) but ranks ahead of Morocco (144th ).
Because of the policy of President Kaïs Saïed, “increasingly authoritarian and intolerant towards criticism from the press”, Tunisia lost 27 places compared to the previous ranking.
Algeria for its part loses two places and remains in the category of countries where the situation of the press is considered “difficult”. The report cites, in particular, the case of the journalist and director of Radio M, Ihsane El-Kadi, who has been in detention since the end of last December.
In the depths of the ranking, we find Vietnam, China, and North Korea, last, but also Syria, Turkmenistan, and Iran.
