PARIS (AFP) - Media freedom suffered a "drastic decline" worldwide last year in part because of extremist groups such as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Boko Haram, the watchdog group Reporters Without Borders said in its annual evaluation released on Thursday, which ranked Singapore at No. 153, a drop of three places from last year's ranking of 150.
The ranking of 153 is the lowest-ever ranking the Republic has been given. The position is out of a total of 180 countries and territories.
"There has been an overall deterioration linked to very different factors, with information wars, and action by non-state groups acting like news despots," the head of the Paris-based group, Mr Christophe Deloire, told AFP.
The Reporters Without Borders 2015 World Press Freedom Index stated that there were 3,719 violations of freedom of information in 180 countries in 2014 - 8 per cent more than a year earlier.
All parties in conflicts raging in the Middle East and Ukraine were waging "a fearsome information war" where media personnel were directly targeted to be killed, captured or pressured to relay propaganda, it said.
ISIS, Boko Haram in northern Nigeria and Cameroon, and criminal organisations in Italy and Latin America all used "fear and reprisals to silence journalists and bloggers who dare to investigate or refuse to act as their mouthpieces", said the watchdog, known by its French initials RSF.
North Africa and the Middle East contained notable "black holes" in which "entire regions are controlled by non-state groups in which independent information simply does not exist", the group said.
"The criminalisation of blasphemy endangers freedom of information in around half of the world's countries," the report said, noting that religious extremists sometimes also go after journalists or bloggers they believe do not sufficiently respect their god or prophet.
RSF's ranking put Iran, China, Syria and North Korea among the countries with the very worst levels of press freedom out of the 180 evaluated.
Repression of journalists in Ukraine during its early-2014 uprising against its pro-Kremlin president, and in Turkey during anti-government demonstrations earned both spots in the bottom quarter of the table.
"Police misconduct" during the Occupy Central protests in Hong Kong earned that territory a slide to 70th position.
The best-rated nations were northern European states such as Finland, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden, with New Zealand, Canada and Jamaica also making the top 10.
The United States ranked 49, three spots lower than in the previous report, in part because of what RSF said was the US government's "war on information" against WikiLeaks and others.
In South America, Venezuela stood out with a 20-notch fall to a ranking of 137 due to the National Bolivarian Guard opening fire on clearly identified journalists during demonstrations.
Libya dropped 17 places to 154 because of the national chaos that has seen seven journalists murdered and 37 kidnapped.
Russia slipped to the 152nd spot after introducing "another string of draconian laws", website blocking and the extinction of independent media.
"Press freedom... is in retreat on all five continents," RSF declared, claiming its indicators were "incontestable".
Here is a ranking of 180 countries and territories evaluated by the RSF for press freedom in its latest annual report, from best to worst:
1. Finland
2. Norway
3. Denmark
4. Netherlands
5. Sweden
6. New Zealand
7. Austria
8. Canada
9. Jamaica
10. Estonia
11. Ireland
12. Germany
13. Czech Republic
14. Slovakia
15. Belgium
16. Costa Rica
17. Namibia
18. Poland
19. Luxembourg
20. Switzerland
21. Iceland
22. Ghana
23. Uruguay
24. Cyprus
25. Australia
26. Portugal
27. Liechtenstein
28. Latvia
29. Suriname
30. Belize
31. Lithuania
32. Andorra
33. Spain
34. United Kingdom
35. Slovenia
36. Cape Verde
37. Organization of Eastern Caribbean States
38. France
39. South Africa
40. Samoa
41. Trinidad and Tobago
42. Botswana
43. Chile
44. Tonga
45. El Salvador
46. Burkina Faso
47. Niger
48. Malta
49. United States
50. Comoros
51. Taiwan
52. Romania
53. Haiti
54. Mongolia
55. Mauritania
56. Papua New Guinea
57. Argentina
58. Croatia
59. Malawi
60. South Korea
61. Japan
62. Guyana
63. Dominican Republic
64. Madagascar
65. Hungary
66. Bosnia and Herzegovina
67. Serbia
68. Mauritius
69. Georgia
70. Hong Kong
71. Senegal
72. Moldova
73. Italy
74. Nicaragua
75. Tanzania
76. Northern Cyprus
77. Lesotho
78. Armenia
79. Sierra Leone
80. Togo
81. Guinea-Bissau
82. Albania
83. Panama
84. Benin
85. Mozambique
86. Ivory Coast
87. Kosovo
88. Kyrgyzstan
89. Liberia
90. Kuwait
91. Greece
92. Peru
93. Fiji
94. Bolivia
95. Gabon
96. Seychelles
97. Uganda
98. Lebanon
99. Brazil
100. Kenya
101. Israel
102. Guinea
103. East Timor
104. Bhutan
105. Nepal
106. Bulgaria
107. Republic of the Congo
108. Ecuador
109. Paraguay
110. Central African Republic
111. Nigeria
112. Maldives
113. Zambia
114. Montenegro
115. Qatar
116. Tajikistan
117. Macedonia
118. Mali
119. Algeria
120. United Arab Emirates
121. Brunei
122. Afghanistan
123. Angola
124. Guatemala
125. South Sudan
126. Tunisia
127. Oman
128. Colombia
129. Ukraine
130. Morocco
131. Zimbabwe
132. Honduras
133. Cameroon
134. Thailand
135. Chad
136. India
137. Venezuela
138. Indonesia
139. Cambodia
140. Palestinian Territories
141. Philippines
142. Ethiopia
143. Jordan
144. Myanmar
145. Burundi
I keep thinking it was 154.
So what's new ??
If Singaporeans want to improve this freedom ranking, then Singaporeans really have to take the initiative to improve this ranking and change it, so that Singapore can be more free.
The reason why Singapore ranks low in terms of press freedom or freedom of speech is because all the press in Singapore are controlled by government.
In most democracy around the world, the press (newspaper, media, tv stations) is independent and privately owned, not runned and controlled by the government. This is known as "Independent press".
Singapore used to have a free press during the British Colonial times, but when Singapore became independent, all independent press were eliminated and controlled by the government, requiring license and censorship. This limits the freedom of press and freedom of speech. It is a way to stifle dissent and control the public opinion in Singapore.
In Journalism, free press allows independent press to report news event freely independent of government control. The media ethics allow a press to report something, not based on rumours or false information, while maximizing the freedom of speech and press.
The free press might have a certain political inclination, but the diversities of different press and newspapers, allow the people to gain access to wide range of views and opinions that help someone to gain a bigger picture, and to dicipher the truth.
More importantly, free press helps to shape the public opinion. It also acts as the "fourth power" (the other are legislation, judiciary, executive), and serves as a "watchdog" to prevent the government from abusing its own power, and to check the government for more transparency, preventing corruption (forms of "check and balance").
If Singaporeans really want to break away from this low freedom ranking, then something needs to be done, to push for amendment in the laws of censorship, against public assembly, free speech, freedom of press (instead of media control).
That can be done as follow:
1. Online Petition - to raise the awareness of Singaporeans.
2. With more Singaporeans joining and supporting it, the public opinion can be reinforced with many Singaporeans changing their mentality.
3. Hong lim Park is a place to raise the awareness of Singaporeans.
4. Influence the local press
5. Influence the foreign press
6. With more Singaporeans joining activism, the government might be pressured to change the laws to allow greater freedom, if not, the fight will continue and possibly public coalition can help forge a more civil society to change Singapore.
This can lead to a civil movement campaigning for more freedom of speech and press. The different rights group might lobby for more freedom of speech and press.
That is of course. Wow, india above sinkingpore. Hahaha.
freedom in communication , cybersoace ????? Worse now. Yahoo sinkingoore is under their control. they also control viewing of website which state reality and facts on sinkingpore. ?..."Your connection to this website is not private" . Hey, you sicko ... , what is private? Do you sickos want to watch sinkies make out also? This govt is damn bloody sick in their mindl
hello like ur post