KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia showed significant improvement in freedom of the press after leaping 22 spots to 101st place in the 2020 World Press Freedom index by non-profit group Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
In the 2020 index, Malaysia also outranks its peers in Asean, including Indonesia (119), the Philippines (136), Myanmar (139), Thailand (140), Cambodia (144), Brunei (152), Singapore (158), Laos (172) and Vietnam (175).
According to RSF, Malaysia’s score dropped by 3.62 points to 33.12 in 2020, with the lower score indicating greater press freedom.
In its profile for Malaysia, RSF describes the country’s press freedom as receiving a breath of ‘fresh air’ after a surprising first-ever defeat of Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s ruling Barisan Nasional coalition in the May 2018 general elections.
It noted that blacklisted news sites like Sarawak Report have been able to resume working without fear of harassment.
Malaysia landed at the 123rd spot with a score of 36.74 in last year’s index.
In the 2020 World Press Freedom index, the top 10 countries with the best ranking for press freedom are Norway, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, Jamaica, Costa Rica, Switzerland, New Zealand and Portugal. – Bernama