SriLanka improves significantly in World PressFreedom Index

The World Press Freedom Index 2016, published by Reporters Without Borders noted Sri Lanka's ratings on media freedom improved significantly compared to last year. This year index shows Sri Lanka has improved from being ranked at 165 in last year to 141 this year out of 180 countries. 

"By electing Maithripala Sirisena as president, Sri Lanka freed itself of the reign of terror imposed by the Rajapaksa family and its allies. The new government said journalists and cyber-dissidents would no longer have to fear reprisals for their political views or for articles on such sensitive subjects as corruption and the military," it said while noting the improvement of the score.

It also said that the Tamil media – long a target of the authorities, including after the official end of the civil war in 2009 – have seen a decline in harassment and hope it will last.

The country that scored highest in the World Press Freedom Index 2016, published by Reporters Without Borders, was Finland, closely followed by the Netherlands and Norway, while Denmark and New Zealand rounded out the top five.

The country that scored lowest in the rankings of 180 countries, was Eritrea, followed by North Korea, Turkmenistan, the Syrian Arab Republic and China.