India ranks 151 out of 180 countries in 2025 World Press Freedom Index

India is ranked 151st out of 180 countries in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index, media watchdog Reporters Sans Frontières said on Friday.

The non-government organisation, also known as Reporters Without Borders, has been publishing the World Press Freedom Index since 2002.

India’s position has improved marginally from the 159th rank in 2024 and 161st spot in 2023. However, it remains in the “very serious” category, said Reporters Without Borders.

India is listed among the countries where the “concentration of media ownership in the hands of political magnates threatens media plurality”.

Moreover, the index classified the state of global press freedom as being in a “difficult situation” for the first time. A major factor contributing to the weakening of the media was economic pressure, the organisation said.

Among its neighbours, India ranks below Nepal (90th), the Maldives (104th), Sri Lanka (139th) and Bangladesh (149th). It fares better than Bhutan (152nd), Pakistan (158th), Myanmar (169th), Afghanistan (175th) and China (178th).

Norway, Estonia and the Netherlands hold the top three spots.

The Reporters Without Borders evaluates press freedom in countries on the basis of five indicators – political, economic, legislative, social and security.

There is no free press without economic independence, said Reporters Without Borders’ Editorial Director Anne Bocandé.

“When news media are financially strained, they are drawn into a race to attract audiences at the expense of quality reporting, and can fall prey to the oligarchs and public authorities who seek to exploit them,” said Bocandé.

Bocandé added: “The media economy must urgently be restored to a state that is conducive to journalism and ensures the production of reliable information, which is inherently costly... The media’s financial independence is a necessary condition for ensuring free, trustworthy information that serves the public interest.”

‘Unofficial state of emergency’

In its section on India, Reporters Without Borders also stated that the country’s media had fallen into an “unofficial state of emergency” since Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in 2014 and “engineered a spectacular rapprochement between his party, the BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party], and the big families dominating the media”.

The report said that industrialist Mukesh Ambani owns more than 70 media outlets that are followed by at least 800 million Indians. It described Ambani as a “close friend” of Prime Minister Modi.

The acquisition of NDTV in 2022 by the Adani Group signalled the “end of pluralism in the mainstream media”, it added, noting that the conglomerate’s founder Gautam Adani is also considered to be close to the prime minister.

“Recent years have also seen the rise of ‘Godi media’ – media outlets that mix populism and pro-BJP propaganda,” Reporters Without Borders said. Through pressure and influence, the Indian model of a pluralist press is being called into question, it added.

“The prime minister does not hold press conferences, grants interviews only to journalists who are favourable to him, and is highly critical of those who do not show allegiance,” the report said, adding that Indian journalists who were critical of the government were subjected to harassment campaigns by BJP-backed trolls.

Also read: Why the rise of ‘godi media’ is a disaster for Indian democracy and economic growth