Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has named Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and the Israeli army (IDF) among its 2025 list of “press freedom predators,” accusing them of silencing journalists and suppressing the right to information. The global watchdog’s report, marking the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists on November 2, lists 34 political leaders, state entities, and organizations responsible for attacks on the media and persecution of journalists worldwide.
According to RSF, all those listed share a “hatred of press freedom.” Their methods may differ, but their objectives converge: to silence independent media and restrict the public’s access to truth. “Murder, imprisonment, defamation, propaganda, troll armies — all serve as tools to impose silence,” RSF stated. By publishing the list on this symbolic day, RSF emphasized that “impunity is not inevitable” and that “those who trample on the freedom to inform must be held accountable.”
RSF’s 2025 Methodology and Findings
The 2025 Press Freedom Predators list complements RSF’s annual World Press Freedom Index, but instead of ranking countries, it identifies individuals, regimes, and organizations that actively violate press freedom. Divided into five categories — political, security, legal, economic, and social — the list illustrates how state power, violence, law, and financial control are systematically weaponized against journalism.
RSF Director-General Thibaut Bruttin noted that this year’s list “highlights the diversity of threats,” explaining that “while some politicians throttle reliable information, other predators murder or imprison journalists, while yet others manipulate media funding or use legal action to silence reporters.”
Political Predators: State Leaders Who Muzzle Information
Under the Political category, RSF names several authoritarian rulers who use state power to silence critical reporting. These include Haibatullah Akhundzada (Afghanistan), Vladimir Putin (Russia), Daniel Ortega (Nicaragua), Alexander Lukashenko (Belarus), Ilham Aliyev (Azerbaijan), Ali Khamenei (Iran), Nicolas Maduro (Venezuela), and Viktor Orbán (Hungary).
RSF identifies these figures as emblematic of regimes where censorship, propaganda, and criminal prosecution of journalists are institutionalized methods of control.
Security Predators: Violence, Imprisonment, and Intimidation
The Security category includes those responsible for physical violence, imprisonment, and targeted attacks against journalists. Among them are the Israel Defense Forces (Israel), the Chinese Communist Party (China) under Xi Jinping, the State Peace and Security Commission (Myanmar), Mohammed bin Salman (Saudi Arabia), the military junta of Burkina Faso led by Capt. Ibrahim Traoré, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (Mexico), and Aleksandar Vu?i? (Serbia).
These actors, RSF warns, represent some of the world’s most dangerous environments for journalists, where exposing corruption or reporting on conflict can lead to death or disappearance.
Legal Predators: Courts as Tools of Repression
The Legal category features those who manipulate the judiciary and administrative systems to persecute journalists. Named are Brendan Carr (United States, Federal Communications Commission), the Foundation Against Terrorism (Guatemala), Seng Heang (Cambodia), Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Türkiye), John Lee Ka-chiu (Hong Kong), Roskomnadzor (Russia), and the Adani Group (India).
By weaponizing legal frameworks and regulatory authority, these figures suppress reporting through fines, censorship, and imprisonment — tactics that have become hallmarks of modern authoritarianism.
Economic Predators: Financial Strangulation of the Media
RSF’s Economic category identifies those who use financial pressure to undermine independent journalism. Included are Alphabet and Meta (United States), Bidzina Ivanishvili (Georgia), Vladimir Tabak (Russia), Alden Global Capital (United States), William Ruto (Kenya), and Vincent Bolloré (France).
In Georgia, Ivanishvili — the billionaire founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party — continues to exert economic dominance over the media despite his formal withdrawal from politics. RSF reports that his business empire ensures favorable coverage through private television stations such as Imedi and Rustavi 2. In RSF’s 2025 Index, Georgia ranked 114th, reflecting the country’s ongoing decline in media independence.
Social Predators: Disinformation and Smear Campaigns
The Social category targets those who exploit media influence or digital platforms to incite mistrust toward journalists. Listed here are Elon Musk (United States), HonestReporting (Israel), Margarita Simonyan (Russia), OpIndia (India), Javier Milei (Argentina), and Robert Fico (Slovakia).
RSF notes that Musk uses his platform X to harass journalists, while India’s OpIndia, a Hindu nationalist website, has intensified campaigns of disinformation and online abuse against reporters critical of the government. These actors weaponize social networks to undermine journalism and normalize hostility toward the press.
RSF’s Final Warning: Impunity Is Not Inevitable
RSF concludes its 2025 report by reaffirming that exposing these predators is both an act of documentation and a call to accountability. “Let us commend the ability of the media’s enemies to constantly renew the nature of their attacks against journalism,” the organization stated. “Those who trample on the freedom to inform must be named and held accountable.”
From Azerbaijan to Israel, from Turkey to Russia, RSF’s 2025 Press Freedom Predators list underscores a grim reality: around the world, journalists continue to face persecution, censorship, and violence — yet their courage remains the strongest defense against silence.
