The number of journalists jailed around the world hit a new record in 2021, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said yesterday, with China and Myanmar having put a quarter of the 293 media workers behind bars.
In its annual report, the CPJ listed 50 journalists imprisoned in China, 26 in Burma, 25 in Egypt, 23 in Vietnam and 19 in Belarus.
The CPJ said a total of 293 journalists were in prison worldwide as of December 1 - up from 280 the year before.
Joel Simon, executive director of the group, said that this is the sixth year in a row that CPJ has documented record numbers of journalists imprisoned around the world.
In a statement, he said that incarcerating journalists for reporting the news was the hallmark of an authoritarian regime.
The CPJ has denounced journalists being murdered, imprisoned, censored, physically hurt and threatened for 40 years.
It is distressing to see a number of countries on the list year after year, but it is particularly horrifying that Myanmar and Ethiopia have so brutally slammed the door on press freedom. The association has killed 24 journalists around the world this year.
Mexico remained the deadliest country in the Western hemisphere for journalists, with three murdered for reporting and the motives for six other killings under investigation, according to the CPJ.
India was also high on the list, with four journalists killed this year.
The number of journalists behind bars is a reflection of the increased intolerance for independent reporting around the world, according to the CPJ. The report noted restrictive environments for journalists around the world, including laws used to target reporters in Hong Kong and Xinjiang, the coup in Myanmar, the war in northern Ethiopia and the crackdown on the opposition in Belarus.