Thursday, February 13, 2014

Quirky Singapore VII - Press freedom


I have just read a local blog post, comparing press freedom in Hong Kong with that in Singapore: "Today, Hong Kong ranks 58th in the 2013 press freedom index. Singapore, where all local media is heavily regulated by the government, ranks 149th, just ahead of Iraq and Burma."

The post makes reference to the index, but I have also copied in the ranking, see below.

Interesting things, beyond the lack of press freedom in Singapore, are the place of the Netherlands: 2nd!, and the change in Hungary's position: -16 (from 40 to 56), with the corresponding comment in the text ("Democracies that stall or go into reverse - Hungary (56th, -16) is still paying the price of its repressive legislative reforms, which had a major impact on the way journalists work.").

Sad. (Not so much for the Dutch, of course!)



Rank Country Note Differential
1 Finland 6,38 0 (1)
2 Netherlands 6,48 +1 (3)
3 Norway 6,52 -2 (1)
4 Luxembourg 6,68 +2 (6)
5 Andorra 6,82 -
6 Denmark 7,08 +4 (10)
7 Liechtenstein 7,35 -
8 New Zealand 8,38 +5 (13)
9 Iceland 8,49 -3 (6)
10 Sweden 9,23 +2 (12)
11 Estonia 9,26 -8 (3)
12 Austria 9,40 -7 (5)
13 Jamaica 9,88 +3 (16)
14 Switzerland 9,94 -6 (8)
15 Ireland 10,06 0 (15)
16 Czech Republic 10,17 -2 (14)
17 Germany 10,24 -1 (16)
18 Costa Rica 12,08 +1 (19)
19 Namibia 12,50 +1 (20)
20 Canada 12,69 -10 (10)
21 Belgium 12,94 -1 (20)
22 Poland 13,11 +2 (24)
23 Slovakia 13,25 +2 (25)
24 Cyprus 13,83 -8 (16)
25 Cape Verde 14,33 -16 (9)
26 Australia 15,24 +4 (30)
27 Uruguay 15,92 +5 (32)
28 Portugal 16,75 +5 (33)
29 United Kingdom 16,89 -1 (28)
30 Ghana 17,27 +11 (41)
31 Suriname 18,19 -9 (22)
32 United States 18,22 +15 (47)
33 Lithuania 18,24 -3 (30)
34 OECS 19,72 -9 (25)
35 Slovenia 20,49 +1 (36)
36 Spain 20,50 +3 (39)
37 France 21,60 +1 (38)
38 El Salvador 22,86 -1 (37)
39 Latvia 22,89 +11 (50)
40 Botswana 22,91 +2 (42)
41 Papua New Guinea 22,97 -6 (35)
42 Romania 23,05 +5 (47)
43 Niger 23,08 -14 (29)
44 Trinidad and Tobago 23,12 +6 (50)
45 Malta 23,30 +13 (58)
46 Burkina Faso 23,70 +22 (68)
47 Taiwan 23,82 -2 (45)
48 Samoa 23,84 +6 (54)
49 Haiti 24,09 +3 (52)
50 South Korea 24,48 -6 (44)
51 Comoros 24,52 -6 (45)
52 South Africa 24,56 -10 (42)
53 Japan 25,17 -31 (22)
54 Argentina 25,67 -7 (47)
55 Moldova 26,01 -2 (53)
56 Hungary 26,09 -16 (40)
57 Italy 26,11 +4 (61)
58 Hong Kong 26,16 -4 (54)
59 Senegal 26,19 +16 (75)
60 Chile 26,24 +20 (80)
61 Sierra Leone 26,35 +2 (63)
62 Mauritius 26,47 -8 (54)
63 Serbia 26,59 +17 (80)
64 Croatia 26,61 +4 (68)
65 Central African Republic 26,61 -3 (62)
66 Tonga 26,70 -3 (63)
67 Mauritania 26,76 0 (67)
68 Bosnia and Herzegovina 26,86 -10 (58)
69 Guyana 27,08 -11 (58)
70 Tanzania 27,34 -36 (34)
71 Kenya 27,80 +13 (84)
72 Zambia 27,93 +14 (86)
73 Mozambique 28,01 -7 (66)
74 Armenia 28,04 +3 (77)
75 Malawi 28,18 +71 (146)
76 Republic of the Congo 28,20 +14 (90)
77 Kuwait 28,28 +1 (78)
78 Nicaragua 28,31 -6 (72)
79 Benin 28,33 +12 (91)
80 Dominican Republic 28,34 +15 (95)
81 Lesotho 28,36 -18 (63)
82 Bhutan 28,42 -12 (70)
83 Togo 28,45 -4 (79)
84 Greece 28,46 -14 (70)
85 Kosovo 28,47 +1 (86)
86 Guinea 28,49 0 (86)
87 Bulgaria 28,58 -7 (80)
88 Madagascar 28,62 -4 (84)
89 Gabon 28,69 +12 (101)
90 East Timor 28,72 -4 (86)
91 Paraguay 28,78 -11 (80)
92 Guinea-Bissau 28,94 -17 (75)
93 Seychelles 29,19 -20 (73)
94 Northern Cyprus 29,34 +8 (102)
95 Guatemala 29,39 +2 (97)
96 Ivory Coast 29,77 +63 (159)
97 Liberia 29,89 +13 (110)
98 Mongolia 29,93 +2 (100)
99 Mali 30,03 -74 (25)
100 Georgia 30,09 +4 (104)
101 Lebanon 30,15 -8 (93)
102 Albania 30,88 -6 (96)
103 Maldives 31,10 -30 (73)
104 Uganda 31,69 +35 (139)
105 Peru 31,87 +10 (115)
106 Kyrgyzstan 32,20 +2 (108)
107 Fiji 32,69 +10 (117)
108 Brazil 32,75 -9 (99)
109 Bolivia 32,80 -1 (108)
110 Qatar 32,86 +4 (114)
111 Panama 32,95 +2 (113)
112 Israel 32,97 -20 (92)
113 Montenegro 32,97 -6 (107)
114 United Arab Emirates 33,49 -2 (112)
115 Nigeria 34,11 +11 (126)
116 Republic of Macedonia 34,27 -22 (94)
117 Venezuela 34,44 0 (117)
118 Nepal 34,61 -12 (106)
119 Ecuador 34,69 -15 (104)
120 Cameroon 34,78 -23 (97)
121 Chad 34,87 -18 (103)
122 Brunei 35,45 +3 (125)
123 Tajikistan 35,71 -1 (122)
124 South Sudan 36,20 -13 (111)
125 Algeria 36,54 -3 (122)
126 Ukraine 36,79 -10 (116)
127 Honduras 36,92 +8 (135)
128 Afghanistan 37,36 +22 (150)
129 Colombia 37,48 +14 (143)
130 Angola 37,80 +2 (132)
131 Libya 37,86 +23 (154)
132 Burundi 38,02 -2 (130)
133 Zimbabwe 38,12 -16 (117)
134 Jordan 38,47 -6 (128)
135 Thailand 38,60 +2 (137)
136 Morocco 39,04 +2 (138)
137 Ethiopia 39,57 -10 (127)
138 Tunisia 39,93 -4 (134)
139 Indonesia 41,05 +7 (146)
140 India 41,22 -9 (131)
141 Oman 41,51 -24 (117)
142 DR Congo 41,66 +3 (145)
143 Cambodia 41,81 -26 (117)
144 Bangladesh 42,01 -15 (129)
145 Malaysia 42,73 -23 (122)
146 Palestine 43,09 +7 (153)
147 Philippines 43,11 -7 (140)
148 Russia 43,42 -6 (142)
149 Singapore 43,43 -14 (135)
150 Iraq 44,67 +2 (152)
151 Burma 44,71 +18 (169)
152 Gambia 45,09 -11 (141)
153 Mexico 45,30 -4 (149)
154 Turkey 46,56 -6 (148)
155 Swaziland 46,76 -11 (144)
156 Azerbaijan 47,73 +6 (162)
157 Belarus 48,35 +11 (168)
158 Egypt 48,66 +8 (166)
159 Pakistan 51,31 -8 (151)
160 Kazakhstan 55,08 -6 (154)
161 Rwanda 55,46 -5 (156)
162 Sri Lanka 56,59 +1 (163)
163 Saudi Arabia 56,88 -5 (158)
164 Uzbekistan 60,39 -7 (157)
165 Bahrain 62,75 +8 (173)
166 Equatorial Guinea 67,20 -5 (161)
167 Djibouti 67,40 -8 (159)
168 Laos 67,99 -3 (165)
169 Yemen 69,22 +2 (171)
170 Sudan 70,06 0 (170)
171 Cuba 71,64 -4 (167)
172 Vietnam 71,78 0 (172)
173 China 73,07 +1 (174)
174 Iran 73,40 +1 (175)
175 Somalia 73,59 -11 (164)
176 Syria 78,53 0 (176)
177 Turkmenistan 79,14 0 (177)
178 North Korea 83,90 0 (178)
179 Eritrea 84,83 0 (179)