At least 330 journalists remained behind bars worldwide in 2025, driven by “growing authoritarianism and escalating armed conflicts,” the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said in a new report. The figure fell from a record high of 385 in 2024, said the New York-based watchdog promoting press freedom worldwide.
The organization, however, cautioned that the true scale of intimidation and abuse is likely far higher. “There are likely hundreds more cases that will never be documented,” it said, noting that “captors often suppress information” and journalists or their families fear retaliation if they speak out.
“Persecuting journalists is a means of silencing them. That has profound implications for us as individuals and for society as a whole,” said CPJ CEO Jodie Ginsberg. With journalists criminalized and punished for their work, “corruption goes unchecked, abuse of power is allowed to flourish, and we are all at greater risk as a result,” she added.
China remained the world’s top jailer of journalists for the third consecutive year, with 50 behind bars. Myanmar ranked second, with 30 journalists detained amid the military junta’s continued crackdown on independent media and human rights groups. Israel ranked third globally and remained the leading jailer of journalists in the Middle East, with 29 imprisoned.
CPJ said Israel has detained a record number of Palestinian journalists without charge since the outbreak of the Israel-Gaza war in October 2023. It also reported that Israeli forces carried out “an unprecedented number of targeted killings of journalists.”
The media watchdog said “the world’s worst jailers of journalists,” including China, Iran, Turkey, Ethiopia, Egypt and Myanmar, view reporting on political opposition as equivalent to opposition itself and therefore “a threat to be silenced.” In those countries, authorities routinely jail journalists on charges of terrorism, espionage or collaboration with exiled or foreign media outlets.
“These imprisonments of reporters are not just a symptom of authoritarianism; they are an accelerant. Studies have shown a clear link between attacks on the media and declines in democracy,” CPJ noted.
Politics remained the primary driver of journalist imprisonments in 2025, outweighing reporting on human rights abuses, corruption or armed conflict. CPJ found that authorities detained 201 journalists on anti-state charges, including accusations of terrorism or accepting funds from foreign governments. Some governments, including India and Tunisia, have weaponized laws on tax, defamation and national security to detain journalists under legal pretexts, CPJ said.
Reversing the trend, according to Gypsy Guillén Kaiser, CPJ’s chief global affairs officer, requires renewed public and political recognition of journalism’s role in society. Journalists, she told OCCRP, are “vital contributors to our collective ability to make informed decisions,” providing “independent, timely, factual and nuanced information.”
Kaiser said the public should respond early when press freedom comes under threat, noting that abuses often begin with the arrest, surveillance or public vilification of a journalist. “They should stand up for that person or that news organization,” she said, warning that attacks on journalists ultimately violate the public’s own right to be informed.
Governments and international institutions already have tools to curb abuses but often fail to use them, Kaiser told OCCRP. She cited targeted sanctions against officials responsible for jailing or attacking journalists, trial monitoring, and making respect for international human rights standards a condition for trade and security agreements. The deliberate targeting and killing of journalists, she added, must be investigated as crimes, citing Gaza, Mexico and Pakistan as places where impunity has fueled further violence.
CPJ also said gaps in documentation remain a challenge. Kaiser said restrictions on information, fear of retaliation and the need for journalists’ consent can delay or limit reporting on detentions and abuse, particularly in countries such as China, Honduras and Nicaragua. Cases involving sexual violence are especially difficult to fully disclose, she said, though CPJ continues to provide direct support and advocacy.
Last year recorded the highest number of torture and beating claims against jailed journalists since 1992, when CPJ began documenting cases in which journalists, their lawyers or family members reported mistreatment in prison. Nearly one-third of imprisoned journalists’ profiles included reports of abuse, with most cases in 2025 occurring in Iran, followed by Israel and Egypt.
Kaiser said the stakes extend far beyond journalists themselves. News shared daily on social media and other platforms, she noted, is gathered, verified and contextualized by reporters. Without press freedom, she warned, societies risk “blissful ignorance” and uninformed choices, underscoring the need to defend a free, independent and pluralistic press.