Radio Free Asia (RFA) recently reported that Reporters Without Borders, headquartered in Paris, published its 2016 Annual World Press Freedom Index, which analyzed the situation of press freedom in 180 countries and regions. The countries ranked at the top three positions are Finland, The Netherlands, and Norway. China was ranked at 176, which is actually in the bottom fifth. Taiwan was ranked at 51, which is the top rank in Asia. The United States was the 41st, up from the 49th last year but still behind Great Britain (the 38th) and Canada (the 18th). However, the report pointed out that overall global press freedom suffered a “Heavy and disturbing” decline in 2016 because dictatorship and governmental press controls are on the rise.
Source: Radio Free Asia, April 20, 2016
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/Xinwen/5-04202016104345.html