Bramanta Putra, Kediri – The press freedom index in Indonesia continues to decline every year and cases of violence against the press continue to occur. This was revealed by Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) Chairperson Nani Afrida when speaking at a national seminar and commemoration of World Press Freedom Day 2025 at the State Institute of Islamic Studies (IAIN) Kediri Auditorium.
The seminar was the opening event in a series of events at the Indonesian Student Press Association (PPMI) Congress.
Afrida stated that freedom of the press in Indonesia is still far from ideal and is even deteriorating. Based on the World Press Freedom Index 2025 report, the press freedom index in Indonesia declined to 127 out of 180 countries.
"It's no longer a secret, friends, that freedom of the press in Indonesia is still far from ideal. In fact, it is worsening. Although every year the Press Council issues a press freedom index that is still considered good, the reality on the ground shows a gloomier picture. Especially based on our position in the World Press Freedom Index 2025 report released by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on May 2. This year, the press freedom index in Indonesia recorded a decline to 127th position out of 180 countries. In 2024, Indonesia was ranked 111th in the world and in 2023 ranked 108th", she said on Sunday May 4.
And it is not only the general press, Afrida also stressed that the student press has also not escaped acts of violence. Violent efforts both physically and through censorship still often occur. Student press groups face various challenges, including physical and digital threats, as well as limited access to capacity building professionally.
"In many regions journalists are still experiencing violence and intimidation. There we are talking about professional journalists. But we rarely talk about our student press friends. In fact, in the freedom of the press index released by the Press Council it is also rare [to talk about the student press]", she added.
According to Afrida, the challenges facing the student press in the future are quite complex. Not only do they face dangerous content attacks and hoaxes, they are also the target of institutional pressure as well. They must immediately build a network to deal with this situation.
"I just want to say that the challenges ahead are more complex. On the one hand we face dangerous content, hoaxes, disinformation, misinformation, hate speech and other things. But on the other hand the student press is also the target of censorship, institutional pressure and even digital attacks. Therefore I think this event is so important. Because we not just sitting and meeting here, but also building a network", she concluded.
[Translated by James Balowski. Sub-headings in the original article were not included. The original title of the article was "Indeks Kebebasan Pers di Indonesia Turun Setiap Tahun".]
