Over 300 journalists remain imprisoned globally for the fifth consecutive year, with Israel ranking as the third-worst jailer of media workers, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists' annual census.
"For the fifth year in a row, more than 300 journalists were imprisoned worldwide as of the end of 2025, according to CPJ's annual prison census. These record-setting numbers reflect growing authoritarianism and escalating numbers of armed conflicts worldwide. Often, journalists are held under cruel and life-threatening conditions -- a 'cemetery of the living,' as one freed Palestinian prisoner described it," according to CPJ's 2025 Prison Census.
Israel put 29 journalists behind bars as of Dec. 1, accounting for 9% of the world's imprisoned journalists.
"Israel, the only country on the worst jailers' list that is traditionally considered a democracy, began imprisoning Palestinian journalists rapidly following the start of the Israel-Gaza war in October 2023.
"Often, journalists are imprisoned on undisclosed charges or held without charge in arbitrary detention -- in contravention of international law. While Israeli citizens enjoy some civil rights and freedoms, legal experts identify a radically different standard of justice for Palestinians in its occupied territory. Israel arrested more than 90 journalists during the course of the war," it added.
China topped the list as the world's worst jailer for the third straight year with 50 journalists imprisoned, representing 15% of the global total. Myanmar rose to second place with 30 journalists held, up from third in 2024.
CPJ found that the 10 worst jailers account for nearly 75% of the 330 journalists imprisoned around the world. Azerbaijan entered the top 10 countries for the first time since 2018, with 24 journalists imprisoned, nearly doubling the number from the previous year during a months-long crackdown on independent media.
The number of journalists imprisoned in Russia, Myanmar, Belarus, Egypt, and Eritrea has remained consistent with the previous five-year levels, the report found.
"While 2025 has seen a slight reduction in jailed journalists, down from a record 384 in 2024, the numbers remain stubbornly high. It has been more than a decade since fewer than 200 journalists were jailed."
According to the census, which was taken annually at 12.01 am on December 1, more than one-third of those imprisoned are serving sentences of more than five years. Nearly half have never been sentenced, and 26% have remained in jail without being sentenced for five years or more -- detentions that the CPJ says violate international law, which requires fair trials without undue delay.
"Global deterioration of democracy and erosion of human rights protections have paved the way for both new and old authoritarian leaders to suppress press freedom in recent years," it underlined.
