The Maldives has slipped down 13 spots on the World Press Freedom Index publicized by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) each year.

Maldives ranked 87 last year out of a total of 180 countries. This year, Maldives slipped onto the 100th position, marking the second time Maldives had slipped down the list within the last four years.

In 2018, Maldives ranked at 120, and in 2019 Maldives moved up to 98. In 2020 the country moved up to 79 and in 2021 it moved to a peak of 72.

In the country profile of Maldives published alongside the Index, the RSF expressed concerns over the Evidence Act, which took effect in January 2023 and which allows the courts to compel journalists to reveal their confidential sources. While the government did bring changes to the Bill, the demands of journalists were ignored.

The country profile further highlighted that advertising is allocated without any transparency or oversight, which poses serious problems for the independence of media outlets.

"In several cases, media outlets with no significant readership received large sums of money from state enterprises. In return, the editors were told to remove an article that had caused displeasure or were asked not to cover a sensitive subject," it added.