Afghanistan has been placed 175th out of 180 nations in the 2026 World Press Freedom Index, showing a slight improvement in press freedom with an increased overall score from 17.88 in 2025 to 19.51 in 2026. Despite this progress, Afghanistan is still among the lowest-ranking countries, as reported by Amu TV.
The evaluation by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) considers five indicators – political, economic, legislative, social, and security – to analyze different aspects of the media landscape. In 2026, Afghanistan ranked 158th in the political indicator, reflecting government influence over media and editorial independence, an improvement from 163rd in 2025.
Assessing the financial conditions for journalism, the economic indicator remained stable at 165th in both years. However, Afghanistan’s ranking in the legislative indicator, which examines laws affecting press freedom, stayed at 178th position for both 2025 and 2026.
The social indicator, which evaluates societal pressures and journalists’ ability to work freely within cultural norms, placed Afghanistan at 175th rank in both 2025 and 2026. In terms of security risks like violence and threats against journalists, Afghanistan was ranked 177th in 2026, a slight decline from 175th in 2025.
