A new report by US-based NGO Freedom House places Taiwan seventh in the Asia Pacific region in terms of press freedom. Freedom House released its 2016 press freedom report on Wednesday. Taiwan placed 44th in the global rankings, tying with Japan for seventh place in the regional ranking.
The Freedom House report says that global levels of press freedom have dropped for the twelfth consecutive year. The report says the situation in the Middle East and Turkey has seriously worsened. Only 13% of the world’s population lives in an area with full press freedom. A further 41% lives in areas with a degree of press freedom, while 46% lives in places without any press freedom at all.