Press freedom hits record low; US drops below Ukraine in 2026 RSF Index

Reporters Without Borders’ 2026 World Press Freedom Index shows the global landscape for journalism deteriorating to its worst state in the survey’s 25-year history. For the first time, more than half of the 180 countries and territories assessed fall into the ‘difficult’ or ‘very serious’ tiers, and the average score across all jurisdictions is at an all-time low.

The Nordic bloc remains the lone bright spot. Norway holds the top position it has occupied for a decade, with Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and Estonia all rounding out the top ten — making the region the only one shaded green on RSF’s global map. The same countries also dominate adjacent measures of well-being, including the World Happiness Report and life expectancy rankings.

The headline shift this cycle is the United States slipping below Ukraine, a country actively at war, signaling that the erosion of press freedom is no longer confined to overt autocracies but is advancing inside established democracies as well.