RSF placed Sisi, Mohammed bin Salman and the Israeli armed forces in the \u201csecurity\u201d category, which includes those responsible, in its assessment, for imprisoning, attacking and killing journalists. It placed Trump and Putin in the \u201cpolitical\u201d category, concerning the use of government power to restrict the media. Erdo\u011fan was included in the \u201clegal\u201d category, while Elon Musk and Javier Milei were assigned to the \u201csocial\u201d category, which focuses on smearing journalists and undermining trust in media outlets. The \u201ceconomic\u201d category included Alphabet, the owner of Google and YouTube, and Meta, the owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.<\/p>\n
The organisation produced a separate profile for each individual or entity<\/a>, outlining their background, the main violations attributed to them and the methods they use against journalism. It stressed that the list does not rank individuals on a single scale of danger or severity of violations. Instead, it brings together officials and entities it believes played a direct role in the deterioration of press freedom during the year.<\/p>\n The 2026 edition added Trump and Sisi, while other names, including Putin, Erdo\u011fan, Mohammed bin Salman and Elon Musk, remained among the individuals and entities whose practices towards the media the organisation continues to criticise.<\/p>\n RSF<\/p>\n In the profile devoted to Sisi<\/a>, RSF said Egyptian authorities had intensified measures to silence independent journalism since he came to power in 2013. It described Egypt as the Middle East\u2019s largest prison for journalists, with 26 journalists and media workers in detention according to the tally it used. It said the authorities\u2019 campaign against media organisations had escalated markedly in recent weeks, particularly following the arrest of the entire editorial team of the fact-checking platform Matsda2sh and a court ruling ordering the closure of Mada Masr.<\/p>\n The organisation cited the arrest of six Matsda2sh journalists between 28 and 30 September: Mohamed Ashraf Abu Omeira, Abdallah Qadri, Islam Barakat, Omar Helal, Mohamed Mahmoud and Mohamed Adel. They were held incommunicado for several days before appearing before the Supreme State Security Prosecution in Case No. 8083 of 2026, Supreme State Security Register, on charges including \u201cjoining and financing a terrorist group\u201d, \u201cpublishing false news\u201d and \u201cusing a social media account to promote it\u201d.<\/p>\n On 27 October, the Supreme State Security Prosecution renewed the six journalists\u2019 detention for a further 15 days. The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, whose lawyers represent them, said the investigation focused on the nature of their journalism, their process for choosing topics and the platform\u2019s editorial policies, without presenting them with news items or reports establishing that they had published false information. The organisation also relayed allegations from the journalists\u2019 lawyers that some had been tortured, mistreated and forced to confess, accusations denied by Egyptian authorities.<\/p>\n The Ministry of Interior, for its part, said the platform was linked to the Muslim Brotherhood and involved in disseminating inaccurate news, while Matsda2sh denied these accusations. Human Rights Watch<\/a> called for the circumstances of the detention to be disclosed, the journalists\u2019 rights to be guaranteed and an end to prosecutions for carrying out their professional work.<\/p>\n The second incident cited by RSF concerned the New Cairo Misdemeanour Court\u2019s ruling of 27 October convicting Mada Masr editor-in-chief Lina Attalah of operating a website without a licence, fining her EGP 3 million and ordering the website\u2019s closure and the confiscation of its equipment and devices. Attalah was held for more than seven hours following the ruling before being released.<\/p>\n In a statement issued after the ruling<\/a>, RSF said the proceedings were marred by violations of defence rights, including the failure to grant requests to submit documents and summon witnesses. It noted that Mada Masr had previously submitted licence applications under the 2018 Press and Media Regulation Law, and that authorities had rejected some applications or failed to respond, despite the outlet supplying additional documents during 2026.<\/p>\n The organisation identified what it described as Egyptian authorities\u2019 \u201cweapon of choice\u201d against journalism: charges of publishing false news, joining terrorist groups and misusing social media. It also cited Sisi\u2019s remarks at the Egypt Forum the previous October about the ability of unspecified actors to influence social media users and public opinion. It linked those remarks to the screening of a video warning against fact-checking platforms and using the slogan \u201cMatshareesh\u201d, which it regarded as an imitation of the name Matsda2sh.<\/p>\n Egypt ranks 169th out of 180 countries and territories<\/a> in the 2026 World Press Freedom Index, with a score of 24.92 out of 100, compared with 170th the previous year.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n US President Donald Trump, who entered the list for the first time, received a separate profile<\/a>. RSF said that, since returning to the White House in January 2025, he had intensified measures against news organisations critical of his administration. It explained that these measures went beyond verbal attacks and attempts to undermine the credibility of media outlets, extending to the use of government and regulatory bodies to pressure news organisations and restrict journalists\u2019 access to information and government and military premises.<\/p>\n The organisation cited restrictions imposed by the US administration on journalists\u2019 access to the White House and the Department of Defense, the Pentagon, as well as measures targeting public media independence. In February 2025, the White House barred Associated Press journalists from certain official events because the agency continued to use the name \u201cGulf of Mexico\u201d rather than \u201cGulf of America\u201d, as adopted by Trump. In April of the same year, a federal judge ruled in the agency\u2019s favour, ordering access to be restored, while litigation over enforcement continued.<\/p>\n RSF also criticised restrictions imposed by the Department of Defense on reporters working inside the Pentagon, including requirements for official permission or government escorts when entering areas previously accessible to journalists, as well as rules governing the publication of information the department had not authorised for release. Major media organisations, including the Associated Press, Fox News and ABC News, rejected the rules. The Department of Defense justified them on security grounds and as a means of preventing information leaks. In a report on restrictions inside the Pentagon<\/a>, RSF said these policies limited journalists\u2019 ability to scrutinise military institutions and hold their officials accountable.<\/p>\n The organisation\u2019s criticism also covered the Trump administration\u2019s actions concerning the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which oversees international media organisations including Voice of America (VOA), following attempts to curtail its activities and subject it to greater political control. RSF participated in lawsuits<\/a> challenging those actions and defending the broadcaster\u2019s editorial independence. It cited federal rulings in favour of journalists resuming work, while the legal dispute with the administration continued.<\/p>\n RSF also accused Trump of using lawsuits and regulatory threats to pressure media outlets critical of him, citing legal disputes with organisations including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and CBS. It criticised attempts to influence media owners\u2019 decisions, measures reducing public funding for some outlets and the rollback of safeguards that had limited the Justice Department\u2019s ability to obtain journalists\u2019 communications data.<\/p>\n The organisation included in Trump\u2019s record deteriorating conditions for journalists\u2019 safety while covering protests and immigration enforcement, with assaults and detentions of reporters recorded while they were working. It said his repeated rhetoric against the media helped create a hostile climate for journalists, while his administration\u2019s policies reduced the legal and institutional protections for their work.<\/p>\n The United States fell seven places in the 2026 World Press Freedom Index<\/a>, ranking 64th out of 180 countries and territories, compared with 57th in 2025. RSF linked this decline to political attacks on journalism becoming government and regulatory measures affecting media organisations\u2019 independence and access to information.<\/p>\n In the same US context, RSF included Brendan Carr, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), in the legal category, accusing him of using the regulator\u2019s powers to pressure television networks critical of Trump. In his profile<\/a>, it said the commission had taken steps to review licences of stations affiliated with ABC and had moved towards removing the television ownership cap that prevented any single group from reaching more than 39% of US households, a change whose implications for media pluralism it warned against.<\/p>\n In the Israeli occupying state, RSF placed the Israeli armed forces in the security category, linking the violations attributed to them to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s government policies towards journalists in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon. Although Netanyahu was not named in a separate card on the 2026 list, the organisation explicitly addressed his role in the profile of the Israeli forces<\/a> and in another report on his government\u2019s media policies.<\/p>\n RSF said Israeli forces had killed more than 200 journalists in Gaza since October 2023, including 63 whom it documented as having been killed because of their journalistic work, four of them during 2026. It added that Israeli forces had killed three journalists while they were working in Lebanon during the current year, while 16 Palestinian journalists were detained in Israel because of their work, according to the tally it used.<\/p>\n The organisation accused the Israeli military of using smear campaigns and allegations linking journalists to terrorism to justify targeting them, alongside continuing to deny foreign journalists independent access to Gaza and restricting coverage in areas occupied by Israeli forces in southern Lebanon. It said the continuation of these measures prevented independent reporting on military operations and humanitarian conditions in conflict zones.<\/p>\n In a separate report published on 22 October<\/a>, RSF examined Netanyahu\u2019s policies towards Israeli media, citing his repeated attacks on organisations critical of his government, including Haaretz, Yedioth Ahronoth, Ynet and Channel 12, as well as the use of defamation lawsuits against outlets and journalists. It also noted his preference for interviews with Channel 14, which is close to his government, and criticised proposed broadcasting reforms that it believes could increase government influence over the media regulator and give certain channels advantages.<\/p>\n The report cited an AI-generated video Netanyahu published in July 2026 in which he appeared wearing a doctor\u2019s coat, in a satirical portrayal targeting two Israeli journalists critical of his government\u2019s policies, Ben Caspit and Raviv Drucker. RSF linked this rhetoric to efforts to discredit independent media, alongside restrictions on reporting the war in Gaza.<\/p>\n Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman was placed in the security category, with RSF citing the continued detention and prosecution of journalists over coverage that diverges from the official narrative. In the profile devoted to him<\/a>, it said Saudi authorities did not tolerate independent reporting on issues they deemed sensitive, and that journalists could face charges including \u201cundermining national unity\u201d, \u201cblasphemy\u201d and other accusations related to freedom of expression.<\/p>\n RSF counted 15 journalists detained in Saudi Arabia during 2026, saying approximately half were held without trial or despite having completed their sentences. It also criticised restrictions imposed by the authorities on filming and publishing information about Iranian strikes on Saudi Arabia during the conflict between Iran, the United States and Israel. It said criminalising reporting on these events in the name of national security restricted the public\u2019s ability to understand their impact.<\/p>\n Saudi Arabia ranks 176th out of 180 countries and territories in the 2026 Press Freedom Index, with a score of 19.11. RSF identified arbitrary detention of journalists as the main means used to restrict the media in the kingdom.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The list also included Russian President Vladimir Putin in the political category, amid continuing restrictions on independent media inside Russia and escalating violations connected to the war in Ukraine. RSF said Russia had witnessed its harshest crackdown on journalism since the Soviet Union\u2019s collapse during 2026, with continuing arrests and prosecutions of journalists and the use of security and extremism legislation to restrict their work.<\/p>\n According to the profile devoted to Putin<\/a>, the organisation documented the arbitrary detention of 50 journalists, including 27 Ukrainians, and the inclusion of approximately 60 journalists on Russia\u2019s terrorism and extremism lists. It also recorded more than 230 attacks by Russian forces against journalists and media outlets on Ukrainian territory, killing 16 media workers and injuring 53 others. It noted the adoption of new legislation targeting Russian journalists in exile by freezing bank accounts and obstructing access to administrative and consular services.<\/p>\n In China, RSF included the ruling Communist Party, led by President Xi Jinping, in the security category. It said Chinese authorities continued to tighten digital censorship of the internet, social media and encrypted messaging applications, while expanding propaganda campaigns aimed at audiences at home and abroad. In its profile of the Chinese Communist Party<\/a>, the organisation counted 111 detained journalists and media workers, making China the world\u2019s largest jailer of journalists by its estimates. China ranks 178th out of 180 countries in the 2026 press freedom ranking.<\/p>\n In the legal category, RSF included Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan, accusing his government of using counterterrorism, disinformation and insult laws to restrict journalists and subject media organisations to prosecution. In his profile<\/a>, it said 174 journalists had been detained since he became president in 2014, including eight in 2026, and that more than 250 journalists had faced prosecution for \u201cinsulting the president\u201d.<\/p>\n The organisation cited journalists detained during 2026 over reporting on corruption, government institutions\u2019 performance and social and human rights issues. It said the use of judicial procedures against journalism had become one of the most prominent tools for restricting the media in Turkey, which ranked 163rd worldwide in the Press Freedom Index.<\/p>\n In the social category, Elon Musk was among the most prominent figures examined. RSF accused him of using X to disseminate hostile rhetoric about journalists and media organisations, encouraging users to doubt professional reporting and favour content produced by individual accounts over institutional journalism.<\/p>\n The organisation cited an analysis published in October 2025<\/a> covering Musk\u2019s posts from September 2024 to September 2025. It identified 1,017 posts, reposts or comments criticising news organisations, an average of nearly three a day. It said Musk repeatedly accused traditional media of spreading propaganda and disinformation while presenting his platform as an alternative to news organisations.<\/p>\n According to the analysis, Musk\u2019s attacks took several forms, including casting doubt on The New York Times, the Associated Press and National Public Radio (NPR), while promoting X accounts he considered independent sources of information. RSF said the use of a widely influential platform owner\u2019s personal account to continually attack journalism undermined trust in news organisations and encouraged the spread of content not subject to the same professional standards.<\/p>\n The social category also included Argentine President Javier Milei, whom RSF said used his X account to wage repeated campaigns against journalists and media organisations critical of his policies. In an analysis published in September 2026<\/a>, it recorded 1,674 hostile posts about journalism in just 47 days, between 1 April and 17 May 2026, averaging more than 35 a day.<\/p>\n It said 1,499 of those posts were reposts of content published by other accounts, compared with 151 accompanied by Milei\u2019s comments and 21 he wrote himself. Some 498 posts contained accusations or insinuations of corruption among journalists. The Argentine president also accused media organisations of accepting money to influence their coverage, claims for which RSF said it had found no evidence supporting their generalisation to journalists critical of his government. Argentina ranks 98th worldwide in the 2026 Press Freedom Index.<\/p>\n The same category included Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, Russian network RT\u2019s editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan, the Israeli organisation HonestReporting, the Indian website OpIndia and Burkina Faso\u2019s Rapid Communication Intervention Battalion. RSF accuses these individuals and entities of fuelling hostility towards journalists, spreading digital smear campaigns against independent media or providing propaganda intended to undermine their credibility.<\/p>\n In the economic sphere, RSF listed Alphabet and Meta among the entities whose influence over the digital advertising market it views as a threat to the sustainability of independent journalism. It cited analyses of the transfer of a large share of advertising revenues from news organisations to technology platforms, and the resulting decline in resources available for professional reporting and investigations.<\/p>\n\n
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