Based on the ranking by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Switzerland has risen from 12th place to ninth place in the World Press Freedom Index for 2024. Despite being ranked higher, evaluation of the country has shown that the freedom of press in Switzerland has actually worsened.
The World Press Freedom Index compares the level of freedom of journalists and media in 180 countries and territories. The press freedom rating is based on the evaluation of five indicators, such as security, legal framework, political context, economic context and socio-cultural context.
Taking these criteria into account, Switzerland achieved an overall score of 84,1 points in 2024 compared to 84,4 in the previous year. This means the climb of the Alpine nation to ninth place is in fact due to the decline of other countries, such as Lithuania, East Timor and Liechtenstein, that were ahead in the rankings for 2023.
Switzerland is rated quite poorly in the area of “legal framework”, coming 27th internationally. RSF Switzerland has claimed that this rating has to do with the unsuccessful attempts to reform Swiss bank secrecy laws to benefit the press. The principle of public access allowing private individuals in the country to access documents held by administration “continues to be the subject of various circumvention strategies,” said RSF Switzerland in a press release.
On the other hand, the development of press freedom in Switzerland was positive in the “security” indicator, as the last year saw fewer attacks on workers in the media. Previous years saw the country losing points due to the number of verbal and physical attacks on media professionals especially during protests against COVID-19 prevention measures.
Norway has maintained first place in the press freedom ranking with a score of 91,89, followed by Denmark and Sweden in second and third place respectively. At the bottom of the ranking are Afghanistan, Syria and Eritrea.
The global average score for “political context” has fallen by 7,6 points showing that the freedom of the press worldwide is threatened by political authorities that should be guaranteeing the best environment for journalism. RSF reported that they have seen “a decline in support and respect for media autonomy and an increase in pressure from the state or other political actors”.
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