Taipei (Luật Khoa) – On the morning of April 30, the 2026 World Press Freedom Index was released at a press conference in Taipei by Reporters Without Borders (RSF). Việt Nam scored 21.15 points, representing a 1.5-point increase, but dropped one place to rank 174 out of 180.
The Details: With this result, Việt Nam’s press remains the least free in Southeast Asia, ranking behind Myanmar (166), Laos (154), and Cambodia (151).
In terms of scores, Việt Nam lags significantly behind these countries, with Myanmar at 26.38 points, Laos at 32.54 points, and Cambodia at 33.28 points.
Globally, Việt Nam ranks near the bottom, alongside Eritrea (180), North Korea (179), China (178), Iran (177), Saudi Arabia (176), and Afghanistan (175).
In its report on Việt Nam, the French non-governmental organization Reporters Without Borders wrote that “Việt Nam’s mainstream media is tightly controlled by a single political party. Independent journalists and bloggers frequently face imprisonment, making Việt Nam one of the world’s largest prisons for journalists.”
Although released in 2026, this index assesses the year 2025 and is part of the annual ranking conducted by Reporters Without Borders since 2002.
Government Response: Two years ago, the spokesperson for Việt Nam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused Reporters Without Borders of “deliberately advancing fabricated and biased allegations against Việt Nam in an attempt to undermine its socio-economic development achievements and drive a wedge between Việt Nam and the international community.”
- In response, Cédric Alviani, the Asia-Pacific Bureau Director for RSF, stated: “If you remove Việt Nam and you put another authoritarian country’s name in the place, then you will have other statements that we receive. China has written exactly the same. And I believe every authoritarian government is going to use the same argument.”
- Alviani added: “The index is based on respondents who are on the field and who live every day in this situation. So I dare say that our index is much more informed than this sentence statement by the Vietnamese government.”
- Aleksandra Bielakowska, the RSF Advocacy Manager, also stated: “The regime is really attacking the media on a daily basis and basically detaining anyone who’s trying to speak up to the power and basically to reveal the abuses of the regime, not to mention the notorious prison conditions and everything.”
- Bielakowska further stated: “Vietnam is really falling into the footsteps of other authoritarian regimes in terms of transnational repression. have seen a growing amount of attempts to target media outside of borders, specifically whenever someone is fleeing from Vietnam through Thailand.”
- Arthur Rochereau, an RSF program officer, also added: “Just to add to that, also the pattern of the Vietnamese regime to target the families of the journalists in exile is growing.”
The Background: Under a one-party regime, the government stifled the press in Việt Nam, first in the North after 1954 and then in the South after 1975. The media space became more open in the 1990s and 2000s but has rapidly regressed since the mid-2010s.
Private media outlets are effectively placed outside the law, although some operate under state umbrellas, such as VnExpress, Zing, Dân Trí, Kênh 14, and CafeF.
Independent outlets have faced severe repression. In 2020, three key leaders of the Independent Journalists Association of Việt Nam were sentenced to between 11 and 15 years in prison. Journalist Phạm Đoan Trang of Luật Khoa Magazine was sentenced to nine years in prison in 2020, and in the latest case, journalist Trương Huy San received a 30-month prison term in 2025.
Since 2019, the Communist Party has implemented a series of unprecedented restructuring policies for the state media system, including dissolving and merging numerous outlets. In early April, the country transferred the three largest media organizations—Vietnam Television (VTV), Voice of Vietnam (VOV), and the Vietnam News Agency (VNA)—from government control to the Party’s central apparatus.
On Dec. 10, 2025, the National Assembly passed the amended Press Law, which for the first time formally authorizes the police to require media organizations and journalists to disclose sources to “serve investigation, prosecution, and adjudication.” The new law allows the Ministry of Public Security to demand the immediate removal of content deemed to be in violation.
Why It Matters: This year’s index by Reporters Without Borders also reflects a broader global decline in press freedom. For the first time since the index was introduced, more than half of the world’s population now lives in countries classified as “difficult” or “very serious,” while only 1% fall into the “good” category.
Notably, the United States dropped nearly three points (from 65.5 to 62.6) and seven places (from 57 to 64 out of 180) in this year’s ranking compared to last year.
Transparency: The author, Trịnh Hữu Long, is a correspondent to RSF’s Asia-Pacific Bureau and a member of RSF Taiwan.
Trịnh Hữu Long wrote this article in Vietnamese and published it in Luật Khoa Magazine on April 30, 2026. The Vietnamese Magazine has the copyrights of the English translation.
