Press freedom in Americas sharply declined in 2025: watchdog

Press freedom in Americas sharply declined in 2025: watchdog

Press freedom across the Americas deteriorated significantly in 2025, with journalists facing killings, arrests and growing impunity for crimes against the media, the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) said in its annual report. 

The Miami-based organization’s Chapultepec Index, which evaluates media freedoms in 23 countries across the Western Hemisphere, ranked Venezuela and Nicaragua as nations “without freedom of speech,” while Ecuador, Bolivia, Honduras, Peru, Mexico, Haiti, Cuba and El Salvador were classified as countries with “high restrictions.” 

Canada, Brazil, Chile and Panama were listed among countries with “low restrictions,” while the United States was categorized as having “restrictions” on press freedom after 170 attacks against journalists were recorded in 2025. 

The report also highlighted rising intimidation of journalists in several countries, including El Salvador and Ecuador, as well as worsening conditions in Haiti, where gang violence and impunity have created one of the region’s most dangerous environments for the media. 

The IAPA, which represents more than 1,300 news organizations, said the rise of authoritarian leadership and increasing violence against reporters are contributing to the decline in press freedom across the region.