Central Idea: India’s ranking in the 2023 World Press Freedom Index has slipped to 161 out of 180 countries, according to the latest report released by global media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

What is Press Freedom Index?

• The PFI is an annual ranking of countries compiled and published by Reporters without Borders since 2002.
• It is based upon the organisation’s own assessment of the countries’ press freedom records in the previous year.
• It defines press freedom as “the ability of journalists as individuals and collectives to select, produce, and disseminate news in the public interest independent of political, economic, legal, and social interference and in the absence of threats to their physical and mental safety.”
• It intends to reflect the degree of freedom that journalists, news organisations, and netizens have in each country, and the efforts made by authorities to respect this freedom.
• It does not measure the quality of journalism in the countries it assesses, nor does it look at human rights violations in general.

 Irony of the rankings

• In 2022, India was ranked at 150.
• Pakistan has fared better when it comes to media freedom as it was placed at 150, an improvement from last year’s 157th rank.
• Afghanistan was ranked 152^nd. This raises some questions about the methodology of the index.

Global scenario

• Sri Lanka also made significant improvement on the index, ranking 135th this year as against 146th in 2022
• Norway, Ireland and Denmark occupied the top three positions in press freedom, while Vietnam, China and North Korea constituted the bottom three.

Back2Basics: Freedom of Press and Constitutional Provisions

• The Supreme Court in Romesh Thappar v. the State of Madras, 1950 observed that freedom of the press lay at the foundation of all democratic organisations.
• It is guaranteed under the freedom of speech and expression under Article 19, which deals with ‘Protection of certain rights regarding freedom of speech, etc.
• Freedom of the press is not expressly protected by the Indian legal system but it is impliedly protected under article 19(1) (a) of the constitution.
• The freedom of the press is also not absolute.

Reasonable restrictions

• A law could impose only those restrictions on the exercise of this right, it faces certain restrictions under Article 19(2), which are as follows:

1. Sovereignty and integrity of India
2. Security of the State,
3. Friendly relations with foreign States
4. Public order, decency or morality
5. Contempt of court
6. Defamation
7. Incitement to an offence

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