Kyrgyzstan improves position in World Press Freedom Index

Bishkek, Apr. 22, 2020 / Kabar /. Kyrgyzstan improved its position and ranked 82nd in the 2020 World Press Freedom Index, compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF). The report said that the pluralism of Kyrgyz media is an exception in Central Asia, but the polarization of Kyrgyz society is reflected both in the media themselves and among the journalists. The authors of the report add that despite the fact that “the repressions against the media that preceded the 2017 presidential election are long over, journalistic investigations still face obstacles in accessing information.” The Reporters Without Borders report also touched on issues such as corruption, which, according to the authors, can still be a danger to independent journalists and the media. “There is still significant self-censorship on issues such as interethnic relations. Some types of hate speech are still punished, but the fight against “extremism” is sometimes used as the basis for unreasonable harassment of users of social networks,” the report said. According to the report, the situation with the media in the region is changing and some countries are showing good results. For example, Uzbekistan improved the situation with regard to freedom of the press in the country(156th) and is ahead of Kazakhstan, which ranks 157th this year. Tajikistan ranks 162th and Turkmenistan 179th. Norway is recognized as the leader of the ranking, followed by Finland, and Denmark the third.