World press freedom ranking: Switzerland in 9th place
Switzerland has moved up three spots in the World Press Freedom Index published annually by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and now ranks ninth. However, it has not improved in terms of the points that count toward the rating. There is still a great need for action in the legal sphere.
In the current press freedom ranking, Switzerland is in ninth place, three places higher than last year. However, this does not represent any progress, writes RSF in a press release. The score, which is based on the results of five indicators*, has not risen compared to the previous year, but rather fallen - 84.01 points compared to 84.4 last year. Switzerland's improved ranking therefore only reflects the decline of three other countries that were ahead of Switzerland in the previous year, namely Lithuania, East Timor and Liechtenstein.
In the area of "Legal framework", Switzerland is only ranked 27th, well below the result for the other indicators. In this context, RSF refers to the problem of applying the criminal provisions of the Federal Banking Act to media professionals, which has still not been resolved. On the contrary: in December 2023, the Council of States voted in favor of a postulate entitled "Handling the further use of illegally acquired data". If the postulate were to be implemented by the government, this would represent a further worrying step backwards, RSF writes further.
RSF Switzerland also notes that the principle of public access, which establishes the right of private individuals to access documents held by the administration, continues to be the subject of various circumvention strategies. This is particularly the case with environmental issues. The organization has addressed this aspect in a Dossier described in detail. It expects that the "National Action Plan for the Safety of Media Professionals in Switzerland", which was launched by Federal Councillor Albert Rösti exactly one year ago, on May 3, 2023, will bring measurable progress.
Switzerland performs "fairly well" in the "socio-cultural context" indicator, which measures in particular disparagement and attacks on media and media professionals based on gender, class, ethnic origin or religion. However, the score is declining and Switzerland has fallen from fourth to eleventh place in this indicator. In this context, RSF Switzerland refers to the precedent set by far-right ideologue Alain Soral in 2023 and expects the judicial authorities to be unyielding when media professionals are the subject of hateful and discriminatory statements.
The development in the "Security" area is positive - Switzerland was able to gain points slightly here. In previous years, verbal and even physical attacks on members of the media, particularly at demonstrations by "opponents of the measures", had led to a lower ranking.
*The five indicators on which the results are based are "Political context", "Economic context", "Legal framework", "Socio-cultural context" and "Security".
