PARIS (AFP) - Media freedom suffered a "drastic decline" worldwide last year in part because of extremist groups such as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Boko Haram, the watchdog group Reporters Without Borders said in its annual evaluation released on Thursday, which ranked Singapore at No. 153, a drop of three places from last year's ranking of 150.
The ranking of 153 is the lowest-ever ranking the Republic has been given. The position is out of a total of 180 countries and territories.
"There has been an overall deterioration linked to very different factors, with information wars, and action by non-state groups acting like news despots," the head of the Paris-based group, Mr Christophe Deloire, told AFP.
The Reporters Without Borders 2015 World Press Freedom Index stated that there were 3,719 violations of freedom of information in 180 countries in 2014 - 8 per cent more than a year earlier.
All parties in conflicts raging in the Middle East and Ukraine were waging "a fearsome information war" where media personnel were directly targeted to be killed, captured or pressured to relay propaganda, it said.
ISIS, Boko Haram in northern Nigeria and Cameroon, and criminal organisations in Italy and Latin America all used "fear and reprisals to silence journalists and bloggers who dare to investigate or refuse to act as their mouthpieces", said the watchdog, known by its French initials RSF.
North Africa and the Middle East contained notable "black holes" in which "entire regions are controlled by non-state groups in which independent information simply does not exist", the group said.
"The criminalisation of blasphemy endangers freedom of information in around half of the world's countries," the report said, noting that religious extremists sometimes also go after journalists or bloggers they believe do not sufficiently respect their god or prophet.
RSF's ranking put Iran, China, Syria and North Korea among the countries with the very worst levels of press freedom out of the 180 evaluated.
Repression of journalists in Ukraine during its early-2014 uprising against its pro-Kremlin president, and in Turkey during anti-government demonstrations earned both spots in the bottom quarter of the table.
"Police misconduct" during the Occupy Central protests in Hong Kong earned that territory a slide to 70th position.
The best-rated nations were northern European states such as Finland, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden, with New Zealand, Canada and Jamaica also making the top 10.
The United States ranked 49, three spots lower than in the previous report, in part because of what RSF said was the US government's "war on information" against WikiLeaks and others.
In South America, Venezuela stood out with a 20-notch fall to a ranking of 137 due to the National Bolivarian Guard opening fire on clearly identified journalists during demonstrations.
Libya dropped 17 places to 154 because of the national chaos that has seen seven journalists murdered and 37 kidnapped.
Russia slipped to the 152nd spot after introducing "another string of draconian laws", website blocking and the extinction of independent media.
"Press freedom... is in retreat on all five continents," RSF declared, claiming its indicators were "incontestable".
Here is a ranking of 180 countries and territories evaluated by the RSF for press freedom in its latest annual report, from best to worst:
1. Finland
2. Norway
3. Denmark
4. Netherlands
5. Sweden
6. New Zealand
7. Austria
8. Canada
9. Jamaica
10. Estonia
11. Ireland
12. Germany
13. Czech Republic
14. Slovakia
15. Belgium
16. Costa Rica
17. Namibia
18. Poland
19. Luxembourg
20. Switzerland
21. Iceland
22. Ghana
23. Uruguay
24. Cyprus
25. Australia
26. Portugal
27. Liechtenstein
28. Latvia
29. Suriname
30. Belize
31. Lithuania
32. Andorra
33. Spain
34. United Kingdom
35. Slovenia
36. Cape Verde
37. Organization of Eastern Caribbean States
38. France
39. South Africa
40. Samoa
41. Trinidad and Tobago
42. Botswana
43. Chile
44. Tonga
45. El Salvador
46. Burkina Faso
47. Niger
48. Malta
49. United States
50. Comoros
51. Taiwan
52. Romania
53. Haiti
54. Mongolia
55. Mauritania
56. Papua New Guinea
57. Argentina
58. Croatia
59. Malawi
60. South Korea
61. Japan
62. Guyana
63. Dominican Republic
64. Madagascar
65. Hungary
66. Bosnia and Herzegovina
67. Serbia
68. Mauritius
69. Georgia
70. Hong Kong
71. Senegal
72. Moldova
73. Italy
74. Nicaragua
75. Tanzania
76. Northern Cyprus
77. Lesotho
78. Armenia
79. Sierra Leone
80. Togo
81. Guinea-Bissau
82. Albania
83. Panama
84. Benin
85. Mozambique
86. Ivory Coast
87. Kosovo
88. Kyrgyzstan
89. Liberia
90. Kuwait
91. Greece
92. Peru
93. Fiji
94. Bolivia
95. Gabon
96. Seychelles
97. Uganda
98. Lebanon
99. Brazil
100. Kenya
101. Israel
102. Guinea
103. East Timor
104. Bhutan
105. Nepal
106. Bulgaria
107. Republic of the Congo
108. Ecuador
109. Paraguay
110. Central African Republic
111. Nigeria
112. Maldives
113. Zambia
114. Montenegro
115. Qatar
116. Tajikistan
117. Macedonia
118. Mali
119. Algeria
120. United Arab Emirates
121. Brunei
122. Afghanistan
123. Angola
124. Guatemala
125. South Sudan
126. Tunisia
127. Oman
128. Colombia
129. Ukraine
130. Morocco
131. Zimbabwe
132. Honduras
133. Cameroon
134. Thailand
135. Chad
136. India
137. Venezuela
138. Indonesia
139. Cambodia
140. Palestinian Territories
141. Philippines
142. Ethiopia
143. Jordan
144. Myanmar
145. Burundi
146. Bangladesh
147. Malaysia
148. Mexico
149. Turkey
150. Democratic Republic of Congo
151. Gambia
152. Russia
153. Singapore
154. Libya
155. Swaziland
156. Iraq
157. Belarus
158. Egypt
159. Pakistan
160. Kazakhstan
161. Rwanda
162. Azerbaijan
163. Bahrain
164. Saudi Arabia
165. Sri Lanka
166. Uzbekistan
167. Equatorial Guinea
168. Yemen
169. Cuba
170. Djibouti
171. Laos
172. Somalia
173. Iran
174. Sudan
175. Vietnam
176. China
177. Syria
178. Turkmenistan
179. North Korea
180. Eritrea
(Source: Reporters Without Borders 2015 World Press Freedom Index)
