#freedom index

[skeletonpandas]

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Robert Tait at The Guardian:

Writers in the US are at growing risk amid a worldwide crackdown on free speech that has begun to spread to countries previously renowned for unfettered expression and openness, according to a leading writers’ advocacy group. PEN America said it was concerned about an emerging threat from the Trump administration as it published its annual Freedom to Write index report, which showed that the number of writers jailed worldwide had jumped for the sixth year running to 375 in 2024, compared with 339 the year before. Covering a period ending before Donald Trump took office on 20 January, the 35-page report records China as once again the biggest jailer of writers, with 118 behind bars, up from 107. Iran is the second highest incarcerator, with 43, down from 49 a year earlier, although those released had been freed with conditions that forced them into silence. Israel is in fifth place, with 21 writers behind bars, including eight in administrative detention – statistics at odds with the country’s self-proclaimed status as a democracy that tolerates dissent. Other prominent incarcerators are Russia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey, a Nato ally and ostensibly still a democracy under the leadership of its strongman president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The index has been published for the past six years and has hitherto generally highlighted the dangers faced by writers living under repressive regimes, although Israel also appeared in the previous year’s report. While making no explicit mention of threats to free speech under the US president following a spate of arrests of foreign students who have campaigned for Palestinian rights and accusations of trying to curtail academic freedom, its text clearly hints at the potential for a future clampdown. “As geopolitics continue to shift and authoritarian tendencies spread to countries that were once considered safely anchored in openness, we are seeing that free expression, and therefore writers, are increasingly in the crosshairs of repression in a much wider range of countries,” says the index. “[Governments] recognize the power of words to affirm historical truths, give voice to those whose narratives have been excised from the historical ledger, develop or maintain culture, and hold institutions to account … Democracies have been slow to understand that attacks on writers are both the precursor to and a consequence of broader attacks on human rights, democracy, and free expression.”

PEN America’s Freedom To Write index issues a dire warning for the US under the Trump regime.

[noisytenant]

Maids and fish go together. I wonder what other things go with maids

[daniel-nerd]

when everyone is talking about rafah, and israel passing a law allowing them to ban al jazeera, and then immediately enacting on it. here are some numbers, compiled nicely into 2 graphs

the first graph, is the SCORE reporters without borders(RSF) gave to Israel, USA, and Russia, in their world press freedom index. (higher is better)

as you can see. there is a pretty big drop between 2021 and 2022, lets talk about that

In May of 2021 Israel had a military operation in gaza. on top of that, in march of 2021 israel had the 4th election since 2019, where the Likud got 24.19% of the votes, and Naftali bennett managing to form a coalition, making him the prime minister, ending the strike of netanyahu, which was the prime minister since february pf 2009, the coalition survived until November of 2022, where israel had the 5th election since 2019, the election that formed today’s government of israel, with netanyahu back as prime minister, the coalition is also known as the most extreme right wing government israel saw in years, if not in the entire history of Israel.

the next graph shows the POSITION of each country in the RSF world press freedom index(lower is better)

as you can see, israel slowly started to go downwards to a freer place, with better freedom of press, until 2022 when the current government formed. and haven’t shown any signs of slowing down the suppression of the press.

in 2020: 51 journalists were killed worldwide

in 2021: 48 journalists were killed worldwide

in 2022: 57 journalists were killed worldwide

in 2023: 45 journalists were killed worldwide, the lowest since 2002!!

since October 7th over 105 journalists were killed in gaza alone. easily getting us to triple digits, something that we haven’t seen in over a decade.

currently, any website of Al jazeera except ajplus is banned and blocked in israel. (I have no idea why ajplus wasn’t blocked, but I also haven’t looked around the website, i only found out it was a thing thanks to wikipedia)

changing your DNS server to openDNS seems to bypass the ban,

using VPN seems to bypass the ban,

using the tor browser (obviously) seems to bypass the ban.

I haven’t checked google’s DNS servers but it will probably bypass the ban too.

this post is all over the place, but CHANGE YOUR DEFAULT DNS SERVER

it is very easy! i use OpenDNS, they have great tutorials explaining how to change your DNS. and it WILL bypass most of the blocked sites if your country ever try to block a site.

[thoughtlessarse]

According to data collected by RSF for the 2025 World Press Freedom Index, in 160 out of the 180 countries assessed, media outlets achieve financial stability “with difficulty” — or “not at all.”

Worse, news outlets are shutting down due to economic hardship in nearly a third of countries globally. This is the case in the United States (57th, down  2 places) Tunisia (129th, down 11 places) and Argentina (87th, down 21 places). 

The situation in Palestine (163rd) is disastrous. In Gaza, the Israeli army has destroyed newsrooms, killed nearly 200 journalists and imposed a total blockade on the strip for over 18 months. In Haiti (112th, down 18 places), the lack of political stability has also plunged the media economy into chaos.

Even relatively well-ranked countries such as South Africa (27th) and New Zealand (16th) are not immune to such challenges. 

Thirty-four countries stand out for the mass closures of their media outlets, which has led to the exile of journalists in recent years. This is especially true in Nicaragua (172nd, down 9 places), Belarus (166th), Iran (176th), Myanmar (169th), Sudan (156th), Azerbaijan (167th) and Afghanistan (175th), where economic difficulties compound the effects of political pressure. 

The United States: leader of the economic depression In the United States (57th, down 2 places), where the economic indicator has dropped by more than 14 points in two years, vast regions are turning into news deserts. Local journalism is bearing the brunt of the economic downturn: over 60 per cent of journalists and media experts surveyed by RSF in Arizona, Florida, Nevada and Pennsylvania agree that it is “difficult to earn a living wage as a journalist,” and 75 per cent believe that “the average media outlet struggles for economic viability.” The country’s 28-place drop in the social indicator reveals that the press operates in an increasingly hostile environment. President Donald Trump’s second term has already intensified this trend as false economic pretexts are used to bring the press into line. This led to the abrupt end to funding for the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which affected several newsrooms — including Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty — and, as a result, over 400 million citizens worldwide were suddenly deprived of access to reliable information. Similarly, the freeze on funding for the US Agency for International Development (USAID) halted US international aid, throwing hundreds of news outlets into a critical state of economic instability and forcing some to shut down — particularly in Ukraine (62nd). 

continue reading

Countries' rankings.

[grinleysspa]

this is fucking insane??? how are you gonna mock people who recognize that Hamas is a fucking terrorist organization, then acknowledge that the hostages exist (a very low bar that so many ppl fail to meet) while also claiming that calling for the hostages to be returned is a bad thing???

[itzgeorge]

The Simple Path to Wealth – How to Retire Early in the USA/Canada

Learn how The Simple Path to Wealth by JL Collins offers a straightforward strategy for early retirement in the USA or Canada. Discover key principles like index investing, FI, and freedom from debt.

What if you could stop stressing about money forever and retire decades earlier than most people?

[noisytenant]

things may be bad, but at least i'm not using twitter any more

[marktaylor-canfield]

US Ranked 57th On World Press Freedom Index: Thom Hartmann Show - Mark T...

[aajvani]

World Press Freedom Index 2025: 180 देशों में भारत की 151वीं रैंक | 32.96 Score के साथ लोकतंत्र में बदलाव की नई उम्मीद!

World Press Freedom Index 2025: भारत की रैंक 151 – क्या यह बदलाव लोकतंत्र के लिए नई राह दिखाएगा? भूमिका: प्रेस स्वतंत्रता का लोकतंत्र में महत्व प्रेस, लोकतंत्र का चौथा स्तंभ मानी जाती है। एक स्वतंत्र और निर्भीक मीडिया का अस्तित्व किसी भी लोकतांत्रिक समाज के लिए उतना ही आवश्यक है जितना कि स्वतंत्र न्यायपालिका, पारदर्शी चुनाव प्रणाली और सक्रिय नागरिक समाज। प्रेस ही वह माध्यम है जो सत्ता के केंद्रों…

[kazifatagar]

Malaysia Jumps 19 Spots in Global Press Freedom Index

Malaysia has risen 19 places to 88th in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index, with a score of 56.09, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF). This marks a significant recovery from its 2024 ranking of 107th. Within ASEAN, Malaysia now holds the second-highest position in press freedom, just behind Thailand at 85th. Malaysia Jumps 19 Spots in Global Press Freedom Index The index assesses 180…

[ij-reportika]

Unmasking the Truth: Are Global Reports Like the World Happiness Report Just Propaganda?

The World Happiness Report (WHR) ranks nations on "happiness," influencing policies and perceptions. The 2025 report just dropped, but our investigation at IJ-Reportika reveals it—and other indices—are flawed propaganda tools. Let’s unpack the 2024 rankings and why 2025 follows the same shaky path.

h What’s Wrong with the WHR?

Backed by the UN and Gallup, the WHR uses the Cantril Ladder (rate your life 0-10). Scientific? Not quite. Our exposé (link in bio: https://ij-reportika.com/whats-wrong-with-the-world-happiness-report/) shows:

Tiny Samples: Gallup surveys ~1,000 people per country—0.00014% of India’s 1.4B population! In 2024, just 100,000 across 130 countries.

Excluded Voices: Uyghurs, Rohingyas, and rural Africa ignored. Urban oversampling skews results.

Cultural Bias: Questions like “Do you feel safe at night?” vary by culture, skewing scores.

Flawed Stats: Generosity is barely significant (10% level). Happier people might just see less corruption—not the other way around.

t 2024 Rankings: Absurd Anomalies

Costa Rica (7.0, Rank 12) ties Kuwait (7.0, Rank 13): “Pura Vida” vs. restrictive Kuwait—same happiness?

India (4.1, Rank 126) lags Pakistan (4.7, Rank 108): Growth vs. instability?

Ukraine (4.9, Rank 105) beats Sri Lanka (3.9, Rank 128): War-torn Ukraine over Sri Lanka?

China (6.0, Rank 60) vs. Japan (6.1, Rank 51): Censorship barely trails harmony?

Nordic Bias: Finland dominates (7.736 in 2025), as methodology favors Western models, undercounting Africa and Asia.

The 2025 report (March 19) repeats these flaws—Taiwan as “Taiwan, Province of China” shows geopolitical bias. China ranks high despite repression. It’s propaganda, not happiness. t

p Beyond WHR: Other Flawed Indices

Our investigation (link in bio: https://ij-reportika.com/whats-wrong-with-the-reports/) exposes more:

World Press Freedom Index: Subjective surveys misrepresent India, Singapore.

Corruption Perceptions Index: Ignores private corruption, biases against free press nations.

USCIRF Reports: Geopolitical agenda—China targeted, U.S. allies ignored.

Global Hunger Index: Mislabels health as hunger, outdated data.

s Why It Matters

These reports shape global narratives, but they’re built on shaky data and agendas. Demand transparency! Share your thoughts below and read our full reports at IJ-Reportika (links in bio). #UnmaskTheReports #WorldHappinessReport

Download report ://ij-reportika.com/download/11387/?tmstv=1733816652

[inc-immigrationnewscanada]

Canadian Passport Ranking 2025 With Full List Of Visa-Free Countries

Imagine holding a key that unlocks the doors to 188 countries without the hassle of visa applications or lengthy bureaucratic processes. In the 2025 Henley Passport Index, the Canadian passport has solidified its position as one of the most powerful travel documents in the world, securing the prestigious 7th spot globally and granting visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to an astonishing 188…

[antihumanism]

i will not argue online i will simply block and move on i will not argue online i will simply block and move on i will not argue online i will simply block and move on i will not argue online i will simply block and move on

[freedomhealthyoil-blog]

Freedom Refined Sunflower Oil - India's No.1 Selling Sunflower Oil

"Gemini Edibles & Fats India Ltd" claim as per NielsenIQ Retail Index Data for period MAT Feb'24 for the India market in Sunflower Oil segment of ROCP.

[ellipsus-writes]

The words they're afraid of.

(Read on our blog.)

The recently appointed Department of Defense head Pete Hegseth (formerly Fox News pundit, perpetually soused creepy uncle, and current group chat leaker of classified intel) banned images of the Enola Gay from the Pentagon’s website for the offense of “DEI” language. In keeping with the far right’s stated war on anything vaguely resembling diversity, equity and inclusion, even historical photos are up for cancellation. When a literal weapon of mass destruction is censored for being a bit fruity under the Trump administration’s war against inconvenient truths, what exactly is left untouched?

This is clown show stuff, but the stakes are far from funny. While some might be hesitant to compare the current administration to the very worst history has to offer, we can at least all agree that they are dyed-in-the-wool grammar Nazis. Policing language has been the objective of the MAGA culture war long before Project 2025’s debut—the wave of book bans orchestrated by astroturf movements like Moms for Liberty, and Florida’s 2022 Don’t Say Gay bill have already had a profound effect in the arena of free speech and freedom of expression (despite the far right’s long tradition of doublespeak performative free-speech martyrdom to the contrary). Don’t Say Gay ostensibly targeted K-3 education, but LGBT+ content at all levels of education (and beyond) was either quietly censored or entirely preempted in practice. The results were not just a war on so-called ideology, or words alone—but on reality and essential freedoms.

Now, words as innocuous and important as racism, climate change, hate speech, prejudice, mental health, and inequality are targeted as subversive. Entire concepts are being vanished from government institutions, scrubbed not only from descriptions but from metadata, search indexes, and archival frameworks.

If you don’t name a thing, does it exist?

These words are as numerous as they are generic: women, race, Black, immigrants, multicultural, gender, injustice. But what is painfully unserious is also particularly dangerous in its real-world consequences. The process of controlling words is a well-worn authoritarian tendency. Fifty-two universities are now under investigation as part of the President's effort to curb “woke” research and thought crimes. Institutions are being coerced to comply with a nebulous set of ideological demands, or face budgetary annihilation. That means cutting funding for entire departments, slashing financial aid, defunding scientific grants, and pressuring faculty to self-censor.

The possibilities for censorship extend far and wide—interfering, by extension, in everything from reproductive healthcare programs, to libraries and museums. The Trump administration’s proposed budget slashing all federal funding for libraries, including the Institute of Museum and Library Services, will effectively gut an infrastructure that supports over 100,000 libraries and museums across the country—community centers, educational lifelines, internet access points, and archives of marginalized histories (starting with the Smithsonian Institution).

When you erase access, you erase participation. And when you erase participation, you erase people, and the means by which future generations might even learn they existed. A culture that cannot remember is a culture that cannot resist.

The erasure is, yet again, unsurprisingly targeted at minorities and LGBT+ people. The National Parks Service quietly revised the Stonewall Monument’s website to remove references to transgender people—a fundamental part of the original protests. Not an oversight, not a mistake, but a deliberate excision—one point in a wider plan of erasure depicted in stark detail in Project 2025, a blueprint to dismantle civil rights, defund LGBT+-related healthcare, and rewrite history from the ground up.

Dehumanization by deletion—welcome to the reactionary resurgence of doubleplusungood governance. In Trumpland, words are weapons—but not in the way they intend. Their fear of language betrays its power; that’s why they’re trying so hard to police it.

Words hurt them.

Hurt them back.

- the Ellipsus Team