Press freedom in Bangladesh deteriorated further compared to past years, as the country slipped two notches on the World Press Freedom Index.
Paris-based Reporters Sans Frontiers, also known as Reporters Without Borders, placed Bangladesh in 165th place among 180 countries in its 2024 World Press Freedom Index, released on Friday.
Bangladesh scored 27.64 this year, down from 35.31 in 2023, remaining only ahead of Afghanistan among the South Asian nations.
The RSF measures press聽 freedom using five major indicators 鈥� political, economic, legislative, social, and security.
Bangladesh scored the lowest 19.36 points in political indicator, while it scored 27.83, 31.32, 32.65, and 27.03, in economic, legislative, social, and security indicators respectively.
Bangladesh dropped 13 notches in less than five years. In 2021, Bangladesh鈥檚 position was 152nd, with a score of 50.29. It ranked 151 in the 2020 index.
The RSF stated on its website that ruling Awami League regularly launches violent physical attacks targeting journalists whom it does not like.
Judicial harassment campaigns are carried out to silence certain journalists or force media outlets to close, it noted.
In such a hostile environment, editors carefully avoid challenging anything the government says, said the report.聽
It also said that most of the leading privately owned media are owned by a handful of great businessmen who emerged during Bangladesh鈥檚 economic boom.
The RSF also stated that Bangladeshi journalists are all the more vulnerable because this violence goes unpunished.
No response was available from the state minister for information and broadcasting, Mohammad A Arafat when approached.
抖阴精品 correspondents reported that the day was observed in different parts of the country.
Journalists in Patuakhali called for the amendment of the Cyber Security Act and the implementation of an eighth wage board for local journalists, reported 抖阴精品 correspondent.
抖阴精品 Feni correspondent reported that journalists in the district lamented the adverse impact of the Digital Security Act, now renamed CSA, which led many to self-censorship.聽
Nepal held the highest place in Press Freedom Index in South Asia, coming out in 74th place globally with a score of 60.52.
Pakistan slipped two notches this year and ranked 152nd,聽while India advanced two notches and ranked 159th.
Sri Lanka slipped to 150th place from last year鈥檚 135th place, while the Maldives slipped to 106th place from 100th in 2023.
Bhutan has seen the biggest slide among South Asian countries, slipping to 147th from last year鈥檚 90th, and Afghanistan has slipped to 178th from last year鈥檚 ranking of 152.
Norway held the top position in the Press Freedom Index, while Eritrea remained at the bottom.
The United Nations said on Friday that World Press Freedom Day was established to celebrate the value of truth and to protect the people who work courageously to uncover it.
This year, the day is dedicated to the importance of journalism and freedom of expression in the context of the current global environmental crisis.
The US human rights office marked 2023 as one more devastating year for journalism when 71 journalists and media workers were killed.
Only 13 per cent of the murder cases have been investigated. And 320 journalists and media workers were imprisoned鈥攖he highest number ever, the UN stated.