US EditionJournalist jailings imperil a free press worldwide amid reports of life-threatening prison conditions: CPJ
The Committee to Protect Journalists reports 330 journalists jailed worldwide on Dec. 1, 2025, with 61% held on anti-state charges and 20% tortured or beaten.
- On December 1, 2025, the Committee to Protect Journalists recorded 330 journalists jailed worldwide, with China holding 50, Myanmar 30, and Israel 29, the group reported on January 21, 2026.
- Amid spiking authoritarianism, governments increasingly rely on anti-state charges to detain journalists, with CPJ finding 61% faced such charges and most held without due process after covering politics.
- Asia accounted for 110 jailed journalists, Europe and Central Asia 96, Middle East and North Africa 76, Africa 42, and the Americas six, with Eritrea holding 16 for decades.
- CPJ documented widespread mistreatment among imprisoned journalists, including nearly one in five reporting torture or beatings, and found 26% of jailed journalists have languished five years or more without sentencing.
- For the fifth consecutive year, more than 300 journalists were jailed at year-end, CPJ's dynamic database tracks cases from December 1, 2024, and the Americas had six jailed, with none in the United States.
20 Articles
20 Articles
More than 300 journalists remained behind bars around the world at the close of 2025, according to the annual report of the Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ).
"These record figures reflect the rise of authoritarianism and the escalation of the number of armed conflicts in the world," CPJ analyses in its report.
A total of 330 journalists were imprisoned around the world in the last month of 2025, the Committee for Journalists Protection (CPJ) said this Thursday. It is the fifth consecutive year in which the count of this organization of freedom of press over 300 cases. China had 50 journalists arrested on 1 December, followed by Myanmar with 30 and Israel, who held 29 Palestinian reporters.
China, Burma and Israel are at the top of this sad list compiled, for the year 2025, by the Council for the Protection of Journalists.
Over 300 journalists behind bars for fifth straight year: Committee to Protect Journalists
In 2025, Asia remained the region with the highest number of imprisoned journalists at 110. Beyond China and Myanmar, Vietnam held at least 16, Bangladesh four, India three, and the Philippines one.
Coverage Details
Bias Distribution
- 38% of the sources lean Left, 37% of the sources lean Right
Factuality
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
