Global Press Freedom rankings increase placement for Taiwan, positioning it at number 24 worldwide.
Taiwan climbed three spots to snag the 24th position in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), securing second place in the Asia-Pacific region and first in East Asia. While the global press freedom landscape took a tumble, Taiwan's media landscape showed signs of robustness [1][2][5].
However, RSF raised eyebrows over a concerning incident involving Taiwan's public broadcaster, TaiwanPlus. In November 2024, a report labeling then-U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump a "convicted felon" was removed following what appears to be government intervention [1][2]. RSF's Aleksandra Bielakowska described the incident as "rare but deplorable and very worrying," emphasizing that public media must operate independently from political influence [1][2].
Despite the global score remaining almost stagnant (77.04 points) [1][2], Taiwan's ranking improvement is primarily attributed to declines in other countries. Public trust in the media skyrocketed, reaching 33% in 2024, a significant increase from 24% in 2020 [1][2]. RSF cautioned that governmental overreach could undermine this progress and urged Taiwan to strengthen safeguards for editorial independence, particularly in public-service media [1][2].
Taiwan's East Asia ranking underscores the press freedom decline across most countries [3][5]. RSF suggests Taiwan could further enhance its role by facilitating asylum for journalists from restrictive regions, as seen with some Hong Kong media relocating their operations [3].
This situation underscores the dual challenge of maintaining press freedom gains while resisting political pressures on media autonomy. Taiwan faces this dual challenge with a growing public trust in media and better regional standing. Yet, the incident involving TaiwanPlus serves as a warning, emphasizing the importance of media independence in safeguarding press freedom.
- Despite the concerns raised by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) regarding an incident involving Taiwan's public broadcaster, TaiwanPlus, in 2024, Taiwan climbed three spots to secure the 24th position in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index.
- The improvement in Taiwan's ranking is primarily attributed to declines in other countries, yet RSF cautioned that governmental overreach could undermine this progress and urged Taiwan to strengthen safeguards for editorial independence, particularly in public-service media.
- Amidst the global decline of press freedom, Taiwan could further enhance its role by facilitating asylum for journalists from restrictive regions, similar to what some Hong Kong media have done with their operations.
