2021 World Press Freedom index -Sri Lanka ranked 127

According to World Press Freedom ranking -2021 compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF),  Sri Lanka is ranked to 127th position among 180 countries across the globe.

"With 34 countries and more than half the world’s population, the Asia-Pacific region holds all the records, with the world’s biggest prisons for journalists and bloggers, especially China and Vietnam, and the world’s deadliest countries for journalists and bloggers, above all Afghanistan, Pakistan, Philippines and Bangladesh. The Asia-Pacific region also has the biggest number of “Predators of Press Freedom,” who run some the worst dictatorships and information “black holes,” such as North Korea and Laos," RSF noted in its analysis on Asia- Pacific region.

Published every year since 2002 by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the World Press Freedom Index is an important advocacy tool based on the principle of emulation between states.

The neighboring country India is ranked 142.

The degree of freedom available to journalists in 180 countries is determined by pooling the responses of experts to a questionnaire devised by RSF. This qualitative analysis is combined with quantitative data on abuses and acts of violence against journalists during the period evaluated.

The criteria evaluated in the questionnaire are pluralism, media independence, media environment and self-censorship, legislative framework, transparency, and the quality of the infrastructure that supports the production of news and information.

The Index ranks 180 countries and regions according to the level of freedom available to journalists.