The Netherlands has the 2nd most press freedom in the world

The Netherlands is 2nd in the world in terms of freedom of the press, according to a ranking of 179 countries around the world made by the organisation Reporters Without Borders.

The Netherlands rose from 3rd place last year. It typically ranks high in the index, and ranked 1st in 2006. Finland maintained its first place position for the 3rd year in a row, while Norway came in 3rd.

Meanwhile, the bottom 3 countries are the same as last year: Turkmenistan, North Korea, and Eritrea, on account of their totalitarian control of the media and mistreatment of journalists. Syria, Somalia, Iran, China, Vietnam, Cuba, Sudan, and Yemen complete the bottom 10.

Many criteria are taken into account when preparing the ranking, ranging from legislation to violence against journalists, but democratic countries tend to occupy the top of the index while dictatorial countries tend to occupy the last three positions.

According to Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Christophe Deloire, "It is clear that democracies provide better protection for the freedom to produce and circulate accurate news and information than countries where human rights are flouted.”