These 5 Countries Jailed the Most Journalists in 2022, China Tops the List!

A total of 533 journalists were imprisoned for their work, according to Reporters Without Borders (RWB) data as of December 1, 2022. China was the country that imprisoned the most journalists.

110 people are currently detained in China. Furthermore, 62 journalists are currently imprisoned in Myanmar and 47 in Iran.

Of the total imprisoned journalists, 455 (85.4%) were male, and 78 (14.6%) were female.

The report also counted a total of 57 journalists and media workers killed in 2022 while carrying out their work, including eight killed in Ukraine. Additionally, RWB recorded 532 imprisoned journalists as of December 14, 2022.

For journalists, Mexico was the most dangerous country in the world, with 11 journalists killed in 2022, representing 20% of journalist deaths worldwide. This is higher than the seven killed in 2021. According to RWB records, at least 80 journalists have been killed in connection with their work in Mexico over the past ten years.

Ukraine is also currently the second most dangerous country for media workers since the Russian invasion. RWB counted 8 deaths in the country by the end of 2022.

"These include Maks Levin, a Ukrainian photojournalist who was deliberately shot by Russian soldiers on March 13," according to RWB's investigative conclusions. Russia itself currently imprisons 18 journalists.

According to RWB, almost 80% of media professionals killed intentionally in 2022 were targeted in relation to their work or the stories they covered. This coverage related to organized crime, such as mafias, drug trafficking, gang violence, and corruption.

Reporting on these two topics resulted in the killings of 13 and 12 journalists, respectively, in 2022. Furthermore, 4 journalists working on deforestation and land grabbing by large businesses were also killed during the past year.