Filenews 2 May 2025
Cyprus has seen a noticeable drop in the Global Press Freedom Index for 2025, as it fell by 12 places, now occupying 77th place among 180 countries, according to the annual report of Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
The report highlights growing concerns about press freedom in Cyprus, mainly due to recent government legislative initiatives, which, if implemented, may limit the functioning of independent media.
At the same time, in the northern part of the island, Turkey's growing influence and the concentration of media ownership in the hands of a few entrepreneurs are creating an environment that further undermines freedom and pluralism in the media.
According to the index published today by the international non-profit organization "Reporters Without Borders" (RSF), Cyprus has fallen 12 places and ranks 77th among 180 countries in 2025. In 2024 it was in 65th place.
In its country-by-country analysis, RSF listed for Cyprus the significant influence of the government, the Church and business interests on the media as the factors that "undermine media pluralism and push journalists to self-censorship". It also noted concerns about the existence of "direct interference in editorial decisions through informal relations between politicians and media owners, but also through the increasing concentration of media and the lack of transparency in their ownership status."
Regarding the legislative framework for the protection of media freedom, RSF found that "mechanisms or procedures to protect journalists and prevent political interference are limited."
The huge drop in the ranking is due to the government's recent efforts to introduce legislation that would hinder press freedom.
The Cypriot government, last year, prepared a legislative amendment that would expose journalists to the risk of criminal prosecution and imprisonment if their work is deemed "fake news" by the Attorney General, who is appointed by the president.
Concerns about media freedom are intensifying as CIReN revealed last month that the Cypriot government attempted to legalise the surveillance of journalists through a new bill, aimed at revealing their sources.
The bill, if passed, would allow officials, such as "the intelligence chief, the chief of police, and any other investigator or authorized official," to ask the attorney general for a court order requiring journalists to disclose their sources. The bill also authorizes the Attorney General to seek a court order requiring the surveillance and even use of spyware against journalists, their colleagues and their close contacts in order to identify their sources.
Although the government says the bill was drafted as part of the obligation of EU member states to implement the European Journalistic Freedom Act (EMFA), there are widespread concerns among journalists and other stakeholders that the bill undermines the very principles that EMFA aims to uphold.
Regarding the economic environment, RSF underlined that the limited advertising market has made the media increasingly vulnerable to the influence of commercial interests, resulting in the "increased influence of the private sector on editorial content".
RSF also underlined that the board of directors of Cypriot public broadcaster CyBC has been appointed by the government for decades – a serious deficit in media pluralism, which is also described in the European Commission's annual reports on the rule of law.
Among other concerns listed by RSF are verbal attacks on journalists or media by politicians, civil defamation lawsuits, and allegations of state surveillance and hacking of the devices and electronic files of journalist Makarios Drousiotis, who wrote a book on state corruption.
The long-standing political conflict in Cyprus also has a significant impact on the way the media operates. According to RSF "there is a widespread sense of duty and commitment to the government on the Cyprus problem. Journalists who question the official line are often labelled "traitors."
