(MENAFN- Arab Times) KUWAIT CITY April 29 (Agencies): Kuwait ranked 127th globally with a score of 59 and 'partly free' status in the 2015 Freedom of the Press Report released by the Freedom House Wednesday.
According to the report press freedom throughout the world reached the lowest point in a decade. Freedom House evaluates the level of press freedom in 199 countries and territories by looking into the events and developments in these areas every year. It then gives scores ranging from 0 (most free) to 100 (least free) and these scores are used as basis for designating a status of 'free' 'partly free' or 'not free' for each country and territory.
In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region Kuwait is ranked fourth with Israel on top while Iran and Syria are at the bottom. Kuwait is first among the GCC countries and the only nation with 'partly free' status as the rest are 'not free' followed by Qatar on the 148th spot with a score of 67 Oman ranked 158th with a score of 71 United Arab Emirates (UAE) at 169th with a score of 76 Saudi Arabia is on 180th with a score of 83 and Bahrain at 188th with a score of 87. Journalists globally encountered more restrictions from governments militants criminals and media owners the annual report. 'Journalists faced intensified pressure from all sides in 2014' said Jennifer Dunham project manager of the report. 'Governments used security or antiterrorism laws as a pretext to silence critical voices militant groups and criminal gangs used increasingly brazen tactics to intimidate journalists and media owners attempted to manipulate news content to serve their political or business interests.'
One factor was the passage and use of restrictive laws often on national security grounds. 'One of the most troubling developments of the past year was the struggle by democratic states to cope with an onslaught of propaganda from authoritarian regimes and militant groups' Dunham said. 'There is a danger that instead of encouraging honest objective journalism and freedom of information as the proper antidote democracies will resort to censorship or propaganda of their own.' Of the 199 countries and territories studied in 2014 a total of 63 or 32 percent were rated 'free' for the news media while 71 (36 percent) were 'partly free' and 65 (32 percent) 'not free.' Only 14 percent of the world's inhabitants live in countries with a free press Freedom House said. The rating for the United States fell due to detentions harassment and rough treatment of journalists by police during protests in Ferguson Missouri the report said.
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