Malaysia falls to record low 145th in press freedom index

Reporters Without Borders credited increasingly restricted access to information for Malaysia’s decline in the index. — Reuters pic 

(TMI) – Malaysia has plunged 23 rungs in the 2013 World Press Freedom Index and placed 145th out of 179 countries ― the country’s worst showing in the benchmark since 2002.

Malaysia had been ranked at 122 and 141 for the years 2011/2012 and 2010, respectively, in the index compiled by Reporters Without Borders.

According to the organisation, the drop was due to access to information “becoming more and more limited”.

A report by the organisation said that Malaysia’s “sorry record” was caused by the government’s repeated efforts to censor information.

It also attributed the decline in the country’s media freedom to what it described as the government’s campaign of repression, pointing to what is seen as the authorities’ heavy-handed crackdown on the Bersih rally for electoral reform last April.

Read more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/malaysia-falls-to-record-low-145th-in-press-freedom-index/