The Czech Republic has dropped one spot in the World Press Freedom Index, published by the international non-governmental organisation Reporters Without Borders (RSF), and is now ranked in 11th place, RSF announced in a report released today.
Slovakia ranks 37th in the index, one spot higher than last year.
The RSF report states that media freedom around the world is at its lowest level in 25 years. According to the organisation, the media situation is difficult or very serious in more than half of the 180 countries monitored, mainly due to the spread of restrictive laws. Of the five indicators used by the organisation to assess media freedom (economic, legal, security, political and social conditions), the legal conditions have deteriorated most this year, says RSF.
The index evaluates data from February 2025 to February 2026, and therefore does not reflect emerging factors in the Czech context such as the proposal to abolish licence fees for Czech Television and Czech Radio.
Speaking at a press conference earlier to present the results, RWB’s Pavol Szalai stated that the Czech score was influenced, for example, by verbal attacks and hateful comments directed at journalists Zdislava Pokorna of Denik N and Apolena Rychlikova of the Page not Found server.
According to RSF, press freedom in the Czech Republic is safeguarded by the relative safety of journalists, the independence of public service media, and a diverse media market. However, it remains vulnerable to political cycles and high market concentration. Among other issues, the organisation also highlighted political attacks on the media and journalists, which undermine public trust.
Reporters Without Borders characterises the Czech media landscape with three trends: a high concentration of large media groups owned by major economic players, the rise of new independent media, and the strong presence of respected public media.
The United States is among the countries to see a significant decline in media freedom in this year’s ranking, falling seven places to 64th under President Donald Trump’s administration. Latin American countries, particularly Ecuador and Peru, also saw a significant deterioration. As is traditional, the bottom of the ranking is occupied by Saudi Arabia, Iran, China, North Korea, and Eritrea. Conversely, the media enjoy the greatest freedom in Norway, the Netherlands, Estonia, Denmark, and Sweden.
