India ranks 138th in World Press Freedom Index

     Written by : SMTV24x7 | Thu, Apr 26, 2018, 04:19 PM

India ranks 138th in World Press Freedom Index

New Delhi, Apr 26: India is ranked 138 in the 2018 World Press Freedom Index, down two places from 2017, in the latest annual report released by Reporters Without Borders.

Norway topped the list for the second year in a row, the while North Korea remained the most repressive country followed by Eritrea, Turkmenistan, Syria and then China.

India's ranking has fallen two places to 138th position in a ranking of 180 countries.

"Hate speech is also an issue in the continent's other giant, India, which has fallen another two places to 138th. Ever since Narendra Modi became Prime Minister in 2014, Hindu fundamentalists have been referring to journalists in extremely violent terms," the report said.

"The newspaper editor Gauri Lankesh was gunned down outside her home in September after being the target of hate speech and death threats for criticising Hindu supremacy, the caste system and discrimination against women," the report said.

"The physical violence against journalists is largely responsible for India's low ranking. At least three journalists were murdered in connection with their work. More were killed in circumstances that were unclear, as is often the case in rural areas, where reporters are poorly paid," according to the RSF ranking.

China's ranking remained unchanged at 175th position for the second year.

The United States slipped two places to 45th in the rankings.