photo: m. Milenković
On the media freedom index for 2025, Serbia was ranked two places better than last year and now ranks 96th out of a total of 180 countries. However, in reality, Serbia's result is the worst since this index has been measured, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
New report Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has arrived and Serbia has something to look forward to - at least on paper. From 98th place, out of a total of 180 ranked countries, Serbia jumped by two positions and is now 96th on the ranking list.
That puts it sandwiched between Tanzania and Brunei, according to RSF's 2025 ranking, released on Friday (May 2) in Paris.
However, even minor progress in media freedom in Serbia is illusory, RSF explains. In fact, the progress of Serbia by two places is the result of the decline of the index in other countries, said Pavol Salaj, head of the RSF Desk for the European Union and the Balkans, in a statement delivered to FoNet.
Considering the drop in the Serbian result (by 0,92 points, to 53,55 points on a scale from 0 to 100), it is clear that media freedom in the country has further deteriorated, Salaj pointed out.
As he presented, the result of Serbia actually reached the lowest level in the 23-year history of the media freedom index.
According to the RSF report, Serbia ranks second to last in terms of media freedom in the whole of Europe - behind only Kosovo, which this organization analyzes as a separate entity.
According to Salaj, Serbia remains in the category of countries with a "difficult" situation when it comes to media freedom, which is the second worst category out of a total of five.
Suppression of independent journalism
The decline of media freedom in Serbia is caused by political and legal factors, Salaj believes and explains that it can be attributed to the ruling party's efforts to stifle independent journalism with political attacks, abusive lawsuits (SLAPP lawsuits) and arbitrary surveillance.
As he noted, the arbitrary police raid in 2025 on the non-governmental organization CRTA, which runs the fact-checking website Istinomer, confirms this very dangerous trend.
The abuse of law enforcement authorities, aimed at intimidating and discrediting critics, is reminiscent of the authoritarian practices of Slobodan Milošević's regime in the 1990s, Salaj pointed out.
Attempts by the Public Service to report more independently met with strong resistance from the government, he recalled, and assessed that in this regard, Serbia is "part of a wider trend in the Balkans, which is also observed in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo."
On the other hand, the Serbian authorities encouraged the uncontrolled spread of Russian propaganda, with RT Balkan launching its TV channel at the end of 2024, Salaj emphasized.
In addition, the index for 2025 does not yet include numerous violations that occurred in the first months of the year, "physical attacks, attempts to block the media, verbal attacks by SNS politicians and activists close to the regime."
Despite political hostility and thanks to the support of the public, during 2024, independent media showed strength and resilience in the crisis, which prevented even greater damage to media freedom in Serbia, concluded Salaj.
How other countries are ranked
In the Western Balkans, according to the published RSF report, only Kosovo is ranked worse in 99th place, which is a drop of 24 positions compared to 2024.
Montenegro advanced by three places and is in the 37th position, North Macedonia is 42nd (down six places), Albania is 80th (up 19 places), while Bosnia and Herzegovina is in 86th place (down five places). Croatia is in the 60th position (down 12 places).
On the territory of the former Yugoslavia, according to the media freedom index, Slovenia is ranked best, which is in 33rd place on the RSF world list (an improvement of nine positions).
When it comes to the main actors on the world stage, according to the RSF media freedom index, the United States is in 57th place (down two places), the Russian Federation is 171st (down nine places), and China is in 178th place (down six places).
In the RSF report for 2025, Norway, Estonia, the Netherlands, Sweden and Finland are at the top of the world list of media freedom index.
A "difficult situation" on a global scale
For the first time in the history of the RSF Index, the global state of media freedom is now classified as "severe", according to the annual report.
Although physical attacks on journalists represent the most visible violations of media freedom, economic pressure is also a large and subtle problem.
The economic indicator on the RSF Media Freedom Index is now at an unprecedented, critical level, as its decline has continued in 2025.
At a time when media freedom is experiencing a worrying decline in many parts of the world, economic pressure is one of the main, but often underestimated, factors seriously weakening the media.
Much of this problem stems from concentration of ownership, pressure from advertisers and financial power centers, and public assistance that is limited, absent, or granted non-transparently.
The data measured by the economic indicator of the RSF Index clearly show that today's media are caught between preserving editorial independence and ensuring economic survival.
"When the media are financially threatened, they engage in a race to attract audiences at the expense of quality reporting and can fall prey to oligarchs and public authorities who want to exploit them," warns Ann Bokande, RSF editor.
When journalists are impoverished, they no longer have the means to resist the enemies of journalism, those who advocate disinformation and propaganda.
The media economy must urgently be returned to a state that is suitable for journalism and ensures the production of reliable information, which is inherently expensive, Bokande said.
Solutions exist and must be implemented on a large scale, she believes, and concludes that the financial independence of the media is a necessary condition for providing free, reliable information that serves the public interest.
Source: FoNet
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