Taiwan retained its ranking of 42nd in the 2019 World Press Freedom Index released April 18 by France-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
On a scale of 0-100, with zero the best possible result, Taiwan scored 24.98, down 1.62 points from the previous edition. This positioned it among the 24 percent considered to have “good” or “fairly good” media environments in the annual survey of 180 countries and territories.
Taiwan finished second in Asia behind South Korea, 41st, but ahead of Japan, 67th; Hong Kong, 73rd; Singapore, 151st; and China, 177th. The top three spots worldwide went to Norway, Finland and Sweden in that order.
According to RSF, this year’s index reveals that the number of countries in which journalists can work in complete security continues to decline, while authoritarian regimes keep tightening their grip on the media.
While political interference is rare and less tolerated in Taiwan, Beijing is piling pressure on local media owners, who often have business interests in China. It is also suspected of orchestrating online disinformation campaigns, a threat that could lead to questionable retaliatory measures by Taiwan such as refusing visas to Chinese journalists regarded as hostile.
Published annually since 2002, the index assesses countries and territories based on environment and self-censorship, infrastructure quality, legal framework, media independence, pluralism and transparency.
Taiwan, first included in the survey in 2013 with a ranking of 47th, fell to 50th and 51st in 2014 and 2015, respectively. It remained 51st in 2016 before improving to 45th in 2017 and 42nd in 2018. (SFC-E)
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