Bangladesh slips 10 notches in Press Freedom Index, ranks lowest in South Asia
Bangladesh's position in this annual index has not improved since 2016
The freedom of press in Bangladesh has slipped 10 notches since last year as it ranked 162 among 180 nations and territories in the 2022 World Press Freedom Index.
It also ranked the lowest among its neighbouring countries in this index as India occupies the 150th position, Pakistan 157 position, Sri Lanka 146, Afghanistan 156, Nepal 76, Maldives 87 and Bhutan 33 are in a better position than Bangladesh in the index released by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Tuesday, World Press Freedom Day.
Myanmar, which is under military rule, occupies the 176th position, down from last year's 140. India, India fell eight positions behind, Pakistan 17 positions, Sri Lanka fell 19 positions, Afghanistan 34 positions and Maldives 15 positions behind.
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Bhutan has made the most progress in this area, as it has advanced 32 steps and Nepal has advanced 30 steps.
Bangladesh got a score of 36.63 in the index for 2022.
In the index of 2021, Bangladesh's position was 152nd (score 50.29) whereas it was 151 in the 2020 index. Bangladesh's position in this annual index has not improved since 2016.
Norway tops the index with 92.65 points for the sixth time in a row, followed by Denmark, Sweden, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Portugal, Costa Rica, Lithuania and Liechtenstein.
The RSF has been publishing this index since 2002 on the basis of how freely the media can operate in different countries of the world. Bangladesh has been in this index since 2013.
So far in 2022, one journalist has been killed and three others imprisoned in Bangladesh, according to the RSF report.
According to the index, North Korea ranks the lowest (180) in the world in terms of media freedom (score 13.92). In terms of lowest press freedom Eritrea ranks second, Iran third, Turkmenistan fourth, Myanmar fifth, China sixth, Vietnam seventh, Cuba eighth, Iraq ninth, and Syria tenth.
Russia was placed at 155th position (score 38.82), down from 150th last year, while China climbed up by two positions with the Reporters Without Borders placing it at 175th position this year.
