Along with African countries, Argentina continues to lose ground in the global press freedom rankings.

Argentina suffered one of the worst declines in press freedom in the world, falling from 66th to 87th in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders ( RSF ). The report notes that the country has dropped 47 places in the past two years , marking one of the worst declines globally, along with Samoa and Kyrgyzstan.

According to the report, the deterioration in Argentina is due to an authoritarian shift under President Javier Milei. RSF accuses the president of stigmatizing journalists , dismantling public media outlets , and using government advertising as a political weapon . "The rise to power of Javier Milei, who is openly hostile to the press, marks a new and worrying turning point for the right to information in the country," the report warns.

In the Americas, Argentina lagged behind countries such as Uruguay (59), Brazil (63), Chile (69), Paraguay (84) , and even the United States (57) . It also ranked below Caribbean and Central American nations such as Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Costa Rica, and Panama. RSF stresses that the local situation is worsened by the constant closure of media outlets, driven by both political decisions and the ongoing economic crisis.

In this context, the Argentine Journalism Forum (FOPEA) also warned this week about the increase in attacks on the press. So far in 2024, 179 attacks have been recorded , a 53% increase compared to the previous year . "The President alone has accounted for 56 incidents in the last year, and another 11 involve officials from his administration," said Fernando Stanich of FOPEA's Freedom of Expression Monitoring Commission.

The FOPEA report also highlights the increase in two worrying practices: stigmatizing speech , which rose from 23 to 76 cases, and restrictions on access to public information , which increased from 14 to 21. The president of the Public Bar Association, Ricardo Gil Lavedra, warned that Milei's verbal abuse "exceeds the constitutional protection of expression" and constitutes a form of indirect censorship from the highest office in the country.

Globally, the RSF report paints a similarly bleak picture. The average score fell below 55 points, a threshold that defines a "difficult" situation for press freedom. The organization warns that the economic fragility of the media is now as serious a threat as physical attacks, and that this trend is fueled by the dominance of advertising revenue by large technology platforms (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft).

"Although physical attacks are the most visible, more insidious economic pressures represent a major obstacle," RSF explains. Furthermore, the report warns that digital platforms not only weaken journalism's economic model, but also fuel disinformation by promoting the proliferation of manipulated content.