The report, published on Monday, says 387 professional and citizen journalists were placed behind bars for practising their profession. Like the year before, China topped the list, with 117 journalists detained, followed by Egypt (30), Saudi Arabia (34), Vietnam (28) and Syria (27).
According to the report, the number of women journalists put in prison rose from 31 a year ago to 42.
The Covid-19 pandemic resulted in a "significant spike in press freedom violations", favoured by "emergency laws or emergency measures adopted" in most countries.
The NGO found a fourfold increase in arbitrary arrests of journalists during the first three months of the Covid-19 pandemic from March to May 2020.
The report adds that from the start of February to the end of November 2020, arbitrary arrests alone represented 35 percent of the press freedom violations logged.
#2020RsfRoudnUp:
— RSF (@RSF_inter) December 14, 2020
3̳8̳7̳ journalists are currently detained
35% rise in number of women journalists held arbitrarily
There was a fourfold increase in arbitrary arrests of journalists during the Covid-19’s spread
54 are held hostage
4 are missinghttps://t.co/8XBWOtTVY3 pic.twitter.com/qptS7oWcYz
"A new increase in the number of incidents is also noticeable since the beginning of the autumn" which corresponded to the onset of the second wave of the epidemic.
While the journalists arrested for reporting on the pandemic were generally released after a few hours, days or weeks, 14 are "still behind bars" in Asia (7 in China, 2 in Bangladesh, 1 in Burma), in the Middle East. East (2 in Iran, 1 in Jordan) and in Africa (1 in Rwanda).
The NGO added that at least 54 journalists were currently being held hostage in Syria, Yemen, and Iraq. The report identifies four journalists who have been reported missing in 2020. They are from the Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America.
