Politics

Mapped: The State of Press Freedom Around the World

Published

3 years ago

May 1, 2020

Nick Routley

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Mapped: The State of Press Freedom Around the World

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In many Western countries, it’s easy to take press freedom for granted.

Instances of fake news, clickbait, and hyper-partisan reporting are points of consternation in the modern media landscape, and can sometimes overshadow the greater good that unrestricted journalism provides to society.

Of course, the ability to do that important work can vary significantly around the world. Being an investigative journalist in Sweden comes with a very different set of circumstances and considerations than doing the same thing in a country such as Saudi Arabia or Venezuela.

Today’s map highlights the results of the 2020 Global Press Freedom Index, produced by Reporters Without Borders. The report looks at press freedom in 180 countries and territories.

A Profession Not Without Its Risks

Today, nearly 75% of countries are in categories that the report describes as problematic, difficult, and very serious.

While these negative forces often come in the form of censorship and intimidation, journalism can be a risky profession in some of the more restrictive countries. One example is Mexico, where nearly 60 journalists were killed as a direct result of their reporting over the last decade.

journalists killed around the world

There is good news though: the number of journalists killed last year was the lowest since the report began in 2002.

Even better, press freedom scores increased around the world in the 2020 report.

Press Freedom: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Here are the scores for all 180 countries and territories covered in the report, sorted by 2020 ranking and score:

Rank (2020)	Country or Region	Score (2020)	Prev. Rank (2019)	Change in Rank
#1	🇳🇴 Norway	7.84	1	0
#2	🇫🇮 Finland	7.93	2	0
#3	🇩🇰 Denmark	8.13	5	2
#4	🇸🇪 Sweden	9.25	3	-1
#5	🇳🇱 Netherlands	9.96	4	-1
#6	🇯🇲 Jamaica	10.51	8	2
#7	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	10.53	10	3
#8	🇨🇭 Switzerland	10.62	6	-2
#9	🇳🇿 New Zealand	10.69	7	-2
#10	🇵🇹 Portugal	11.83	12	2
#11	Germany	12.16	13	2
#12	Belgium	12.57	9	-3
#13	Ireland	12.60	15	2
#14	Estonia	12.61	11	-3
#15	Iceland	15.12	14	-1
#16	Canada	15.29	18	2
#17	Luxembourg	15.46	17	0
#18	Austria	15.78	16	-2
#19	Uruguay	15.79	19	0
#20	Suriname	17.50	20	0
#21	Samoa	18.25	22	1
#22	Latvia	18.56	24	2
#23	Namibia	19.25	23	0
#24	Liechtenstein	19.52	26	2
#25	Cape Verde	20.15	25	0
#26	Australia	20.21	21	-5
#27	Cyprus	20.45	28	1
#28	Lithuania	21.19	30	2
#29	Spain	22.16	29	0
#30	Ghana	22.26	27	-3
#31	South Africa	22.41	31	0
#32	Slovenia	22.64	34	2
#33	Slovakia	22.67	35	2
#34	France	22.92	32	-2
#35	United Kingdom	22.93	33	-2
#36	Trinidad and Tobago	23.22	39	3
#37	Andorra	23.23	37	0
#38	Burkina Faso	23.47	36	-2
#39	Botswana	23.56	44	5
#40	Czech Republic	23.57	40	0
#41	Italy	23.69	43	2
#42	South Korea	23.70	41	-1
#43	Taiwan	23.76	42	-1
#44	OECS	23.78	50	6
#45	United States	23.85	48	3
#46	Papua New Guinea	23.93	38	-8
#47	Senegal	23.99	49	2
#48	Romania	25.91	47	-1
#49	Guyana	26.63	51	2
#50	Tonga	27.27	45	-5
#51	Chile	27.31	46	-5
#52	Fiji	27.41	52	0
#53	Belize	27.50	53	0
#54	Madagascar	27.68	54	0
#55	Dominican Republic	27.90	55	0
#56	Mauritius	28.00	58	2
#57	Niger	28.25	66	9
#58	Bosnia and Herzegovina	28.51	63	5
#59	Croatia	28.51	64	5
#60	Georgia	28.59	60	0
#61	Armenia	28.60	61	0
#62	Poland	28.65	59	-3
#63	Seychelles	28.66	69	6
#64	Argentina	28.78	57	-7
#65	Greece	28.80	65	0
#66	Japan	28.86	67	1
#67	Bhutan	28.90	80	13
#68	Ivory Coast	28.94	71	3
#69	Malawi	29.32	68	-1
#70	Kosovo	29.33	75	5
#71	Togo	29.33	76	5
#72	Tunisia	29.45	72	0
#73	Mongolia	29.61	70	-3
#74	El Salvador	29.70	81	7
#75	Comoros	29.77	56	-19
#76	Panama	29.78	79	3
#77	Cyprus North	29.79	74	-3
#78	East Timor	29.90	84	6
#79	Maldives	29.93	98	19
#80	Hong Kong	30.01	73	-7
#81	Malta	30.16	77	-4
#82	Kyrgyzstan	30.19	83	1
#83	Haiti	30.20	62	-21
#84	Albania	30.25	82	-2
#85	Sierra Leone	30.28	86	1
#86	Lesotho	30.45	78	-8
#87	Gambia	30.62	92	5
#88	Israel	30.84	88	0
#89	Hungary	30.84	87	-2
#90	Peru	30.94	85	-5
#91	Moldova	31.16	91	0
#92	Macedonia	31.28	95	3
#93	Serbia	31.62	90	-3
#94	Guinea-Bissau	32.06	89	-5
#95	Liberia	32.25	93	-2
#96	Ukraine	32.52	102	6
#97	Mauritania	32.54	94	-3
#98	Ecuador	32.62	97	-1
#99	Ethiopia	32.82	110	11
#100	Paraguay	32.97	99	-1
#101	Malaysia	33.12	123	22
#102	Lebanon	33.19	101	-1
#103	Kenya	33.72	100	-3
#104	Mozambique	33.79	103	-1
#105	Montenegro	33.83	104	-1
#106	Angola	33.92	109	3
#107	Brazil	34.05	105	-2
#108	Mali	34.12	112	4
#109	Kuwait	34.30	108	-1
#110	Guinea	34.34	107	-3
#111	Bulgaria	35.06	111	0
#112	Nepal	35.10	106	-6
#113	Benin	35.11	96	-17
#114	Bolivia	35.37	113	-1
#115	Nigeria	35.63	120	5
#116	Guatemala	35.74	116	0
#117	Nicaragua	35.81	114	-3
#118	Congo	36.56	117	-1
#119	Indonesia	36.82	124	5
#120	Zambia	37.00	119	-1
#121	Gabon	37.20	115	-6
#122	Afghanistan	37.70	121	-1
#123	Chad	39.70	122	-1
#124	Tanzania	40.25	118	-6
#125	Uganda	40.95	125	0
#126	Zimbabwe	40.95	127	1
#127	Sri Lanka	41.94	126	-1
#128	Jordan	42.08	130	2
#129	Qatar	42.51	128	-1
#130	Colombia	42.66	129	-1
#131	United Arab Emirates	42.69	133	2
#132	C.A.R.	42.87	145	13
#133	Morocco	42.88	135	2
#134	Cameroon	43.28	131	-3
#135	Oman	43.42	132	-3
#136	Philippines	43.54	134	-2
#137	Palestine	44.09	137	0
#138	South Sudan	44.49	139	1
#139	Myanmar	44.77	138	-1
#140	Thailand	44.94	136	-4
#141	Swaziland	45.15	147	6
#142	India	45.33	140	-2
#143	Mexico	45.45	144	1
#144	Cambodia	45.46	143	-1
#145	Pakistan	45.52	142	-3
#146	Algeria	45.52	141	-5
#147	Venezuela	45.66	148	1
#148	Honduras	48.20	146	-2
#149	Russian Federation	48.92	149	0
#150	Congo (DRC)	49.09	154	4
#151	Bangladesh	49.37	150	-1
#152	Brunei	49.65	152	0
#153	Belarus	49.75	153	0
#154	Turkey	50.02	157	3
#155	Rwanda	50.34	155	0
#156	Uzbekistan	53.07	160	4
#157	Kazakhstan	54.11	158	1
#158	Singapore	55.23	151	-7
#159	Sudan	55.33	175	16
#160	Burundi	55.33	159	-1
#161	Tajikistan	55.34	161	0
#162	Iraq	55.37	156	-6
#163	Somalia	55.45	164	1
#164	Libya	55.77	162	-2
#165	Equatorial Guinea	56.38	165	0
#166	Egypt	56.82	163	-3
#167	Yemen	58.25	168	1
#168	Azerbaijan	58.48	166	-2
#169	Bahrain	60.13	167	-2
#170	Saudi Arabia	62.14	172	2
#171	Cuba	63.81	169	-2
#172	Laos	64.28	171	-1
#173	Iran	64.81	170	-3
#174	Syria	72.57	174	0
#175	Vietnam	74.71	176	1
#176	Djibouti	76.73	173	-3
#177	China	78.48	177	0
#178	Eritrea	83.50	178	0
#179	Turkmenistan	85.44	180	1
#180	North Korea	85.82	179	-1

Which countries stood out in this year’s edition of the press freedom rankings?

Norway: Nordic Countries have topped the Press Freedom Index since its inception, and Norway (Rank: #1) in particular is an example for the world. Despite a very free media environment, the government recently mandated a commission to conduct a comprehensive review of the conditions for freedom of speech. Members will consider measures to promote the broadest possible participation in the public debate, and means to hamper the spread of fake news and hate speech.

Malaysia: A new government ushered in a less restrictive era in Malaysia in 2018. Journalists and media outlets that had been blacklisted were able to resume working, and anti-fake news laws that were viewed as problematic were repealed. As a result, Malaysia’s index score has improved by 15 points in the past two years. This is in sharp contrast to neighbor, Singapore, which is ranked 158th out of 180 countries.

Ethiopia: When Abiy Ahmed Ali took power in Africa’s second most populous country in 2018, his government restored access to over 200 news websites and blogs that had been previously blocked. As well, many detained journalists and bloggers were released as the chill over the country’s highly restrictive media environment began to thaw. As a result, Ethiopia (#99) jumped up eleven spots in the Press Freedom Index in 2020.

The Middle East: Though the situation in this region has begun to stabilize somewhat, restrictions still remain – even in relatively safe and stable countries. Both Saudi Arabia (#170) and Egypt (#166) have imprisoned a number of journalists in recent years, and the former is still dealing with the reputational fallout from the assassination of Saudi dissident and Washington Post columnist, Jamal Khashoggi.

China: Sitting near the bottom of the list is China (#176). More than 100 journalists and bloggers are currently detained as the country maintains a tight grip over the press – particularly as COVID-19 began to spread. Earlier this year, the Chinese government also expelled over a dozen journalists representing U.S. publications.

2020: A Pivotal Year for the Press

As the world grapples with a deadly pandemic, a global economic shutdown, and a crucial election year, the media could find itself in the spotlight more than in previous years.

How the stories of 2020 are told will influence our collective future – and how regimes choose to treat journalists under this atypical backdrop will tell us a lot about press freedom going forward.

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Politics

Timeline: Cannabis Legislation in the U.S.

At the federal level, cannabis is illegal, but state laws differ. This graphic looks at the timelines of cannabis legislation in the U.S.

Published

1 day ago

March 27, 2023

Avery Koop

cannabis legalization timeline in U.S. states

Timeline: Cannabis Legislation in the U.S.

At the federal level, cannabis is still considered an illegal substance. That said, individual states do have the right to determine their own laws around cannabis sales and usage.

This visual from New Frontier Data looks at the status of cannabis in every state and the timeline of when medical and/or recreational use became legal.

Cannabis Through the Years

In the U.S., the oldest legalese concerning cannabis dates back to the 1600s—the colony of Virginia required every farm to grow and produce hemp. Since then, cannabis use was fairly wide open until the 1930s when the Marihuana Tax Act was enforced, prohibiting marijuana federally but still technically allowing medical use.

Jumping ahead, the Controlled Substances Act was passed in 1970, classifying cannabis as Schedule I drug—the same category as heroin. This prohibited any use of the substance.

However, the 1970s also saw a counter movement, wherein many states made the move towards decriminalization. Decriminalization means that although possessing cannabis remained illegal, a person would not be subject to jail time or prosecution for possessing certain amounts.

By the 1990s, some of the first states passed laws to allow the medical usage of cannabis, and by 2012 two states in the U.S.—Washington and Colorado—legalized the recreational use of cannabis.

Cannabis Legislation Today and Beyond

The MORE Act (the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act) was passed in the House early 2022, and if made law, it would decriminalize marijuana federally.

“This bill decriminalizes marijuana. Specifically, it removes marijuana from the list of scheduled substances under the Controlled Substances Act and eliminates criminal penalties for an individual who manufactures, distributes, or possesses marijuana.”– U.S. Congress

Cannabis still remains illegal at the federal level, but at the state levels, cannabis is now fully legal (both for medicinal and recreational purposes) in a total of 22 states.

Over 246 million Americans have legal access to some form of marijuana products with high THC levels. Looking to the future, many new cannabis markets are expected to open up in the next few years:

Potential cannabis legalization timeline in U.S. states

The earliest states expected to open up next for recreational cannabis sales are Minnesota and Oklahoma. There is always a lag between legalization and actual sales, wherein local regulatory bodies and governments set standards. States like Kentucky, on the other hand, aren’t likely to even legalize medicinal cannabis until 2028.

It’s estimated that by 2030, there will be 69 million cannabis consumers in the country, up 33% from 2022.

Overall, the U.S. cannabis market is likely an important one to watch as legal sales hit $30 billion in 2022. By the end of the decade, that number is expected to be anywhere from $58 billion to as much as $72 billion.