Indonesian Press Freedom Worsened Since 2020

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) notes that Indonesia's press freedom index has worsened over the past two years. In 2020, Indonesia's press freedom index score increased by 0.05 points to 36.82 points. The score then rose again to 37.4 points this year, placing it at 113th globally.

However, Indonesia's press freedom index score had been declining from 2016 to 2019. In 2016, the score was 41.72. It then dropped to 36.77 points in 2019.

The decline in Indonesia's press freedom performance is attributed to several radical religious groups threatening the media's right to provide information. Many journalists are also unable to speak freely due to threats under the Electronic Information and Transaction Law (UU ITE).

Furthermore, the Indonesian government is considered to be restricting access to media in West Papua. Moreover, many local journalists in the region continue to be victims of violence. Foreign and local journalists have also been arrested for attempting to document humanitarian issues and Indonesian military abuses.

RSF calculates the press freedom index through questionnaires to experts in 180 countries. The index consists of six indicators that describe a country's performance in media pluralism, independence, and the safety and freedom of journalists. The index score is on a scale of 0-100, where a higher score indicates a worse level of press freedom.