This year, Ukraine ranked 61st out of 180 countries in the freedom of speech ranking, up 18 positions, Ukrinform reports, citing a report by the international organisation Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
Norway remains the leader in the media freedom ranking, while the worst situation is recorded in Eritrea.
Ukraine's improved position is explained by two factors: "improved political factor" and "increased security factor".
The RSF noted that all countries with a "good" press freedom situation are in the European Union. The top five countries in the ranking include Norway, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Finland. At the same time, there are problems with freedom of speech in Hungary, Malta and Greece, which have the lowest positions among EU countries.
In Eastern Europe, the conditions for journalistic activity are deteriorating due to the scale of disinformation and media censorship. In particular, this applies to Turkmenistan (175th), Belarus (167th) and Russia (162nd). The latter's influence on media censorship was noticeable in Serbia, Georgia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Azerbaijan.
In addition, China (172nd place) has the highest number of detentions of journalists, while the government imposes strict censorship on information that contradicts the ruling party's line.
At the same time, it should be noted that a recent US State Department report on human rights violations claims that the telethon in Ukraine has created unprecedented control over the TV news.