ISLAMABAD     -     Pakistan’s ranking im­proved by seven places in the 2023 World Press Freedom Index released by Reporters Without Bor­ders (RSF) as the country was placed at 150th posi­tion among 180 countries. While citing the reason for the improvement in Paki­stan’s position from 157 in 2022 to 150 this year, RSF noted that Pakistan achieved the improved ranking because, after the change of government in 2022, constraints on the media were loosened. It is a significant achievement as compared to last year when Pakistan came down to 157 in 2022 from its ranking of 145 in 2021 and the then prime minister Imran Khan was declared a press freedom predator along with Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi. This year India’s position on the Press Freedom In­dex further worsened as it dropped from 150 last year to 161 in 2023, losing 11 points. Citing reasons for slip in the ranking of India, RSF stated, “The violence against journalists, the po­litically partisan media and the concentration of media ownership all demonstrate that press freedom is in crisis in the world’s largest democracy.” The RSF report further noted that Modi has an army of supporters “who track down all online reporting regarded as criti­cal of the government and wage horrific harassment campaigns against the sources. Caught between these two forms of extreme pressure, many journalists are, in practice, forced to censor themselves”.