With the end of Jair Bolsonaro’s government (Liberal Party), Brazil rose 18 positions in the World Press Freedom Index, a survey carried out by the NGO Reporters Without Borders. In 2023, the country ranked 92nd among 180 countries analyzed; the previous year, under Bolsonaro’s management, Brazil was ranked 110th.

The report "Journalism against hate networks in Brazil" points out that violence against journalists was "commonplace" in the last three months of Bolsonaro’s administration. During the election period and after Jair's defeat at the polls, every three seconds one journalist was victim of online violence in Brazil.

When disclosing the 2023 ranking, the report by Reporters Without Borders states that "political alternation mainly benefited journalists from Brazil and the United States" with the departure of Jair Bolsonaro and Donald Trump as representatives.

According to the organization, the new government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Workers' Party) "brought the country back to a climate of institutional stability in this area. But structural violence against journalists, a media landscape marked by a heavy concentration in the private sector, and the effects of misinformation continue to pose challenges to press freedom in the country."

A previous report by the NGO, released in January, indicated Brazil as the ninth country in the world where the most crimes are committed against journalists.

Reporters Without Borders / Reproduction

In the last decade, at least 30 journalists have been murdered in Brazil, including the British Dom Philips, killed in the Amazon last year during an investigation into environmental crimes committed on indigenous lands.

Edited by: Rodrigo Durão Coelho