Kyrgyzstan’s score in World Press Freedom Index sharply declines

Kyrgyzstan showed the sharpest decline in its score in the World Press Freedom Index by the international non-governmental organization Reporters Without Borders. The data was published on the organization's website.

For the year, Kyrgyzstan dropped from the 89^th to the 98^th place. Reporters Without Borders explained this by the persecution of the media, including "astronomic fines for insulting the head of state."

Uzbekistan climbed four points up and took the 165^th place. Kazakhstan dropped from the 157^th place to 158^th place. The positions of Tajikistan and Turkmenistan since 2017 have not changed: the 149^th and 178^th places respectively. Only Eritrea and North Korea have worse press freedom scores compared to Turkmenistan.

The ranking includes 180 states. The situation of the media, according to the organization, has worsened in 42 percent of countries, including a number of EU states.