Uzbekistan climbs to 133rd position among 180 countries in the 2022 World Press Freedom Index published by the Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

This was due to a change in the ranking methodology, which defines freedom of the press as "an effective opportunity for journalists to select, produce and disseminate information in the public interest, regardless of political, economic, legal and social interference and without endangering their physical and mental safety.”

Working with a committee of seven experts from the world of science and the media, RSF has introduced five new metrics that capture "the complexity of press freedom": political context, legal framework, economic context, socio-cultural context, and security (each metric is rated on a scale from 0 to 100 points). The study was conducted by interviewing hundreds of journalists, scientists and human rights activists using an updated questionnaire (123 questions) over the past year. For some territories where the situation has changed dramatically (Russia, Ukraine and Mali), updates were made from January to March 2022.

“Due to this change in methodology, comparing positions and scores between 2021 and 2022 should be treated with caution,” the ranking authors warn. Positions in the rankings have risen sharply in many countries, including Uzbekistan's neighbors.

After the release of the rating, the president’s spokesman Sherzod Asadov congratulated the media workers on “significant success, which became one of the results of important steps taken under the leadership of the President of our country to ensure freedom of speech, the formation of mass media expressing public opinion as the “fourth authorities".

Komil Allamjonov, former president’s spokesman, now head of the board of trustees of the Public Fund for the Development and Support of National Mass Media, also noted the improvement in Uzbekistan's position in the ranking. “This means that if the press is less disturbed, we have a chance to achieve an even higher result than this. As the President said, there is no going back! Only forward!" he wrote.

Addressing journalists and bloggers, he added: “Freedom can only be achieved through struggle. So do not give up, dear colleagues. If we give up, have fear and get disappointed, then human dignity will never become a value in this country. Human rights, justice will be lost. Everything is in our own hands. "Uzbekistan’s neighbors in the index are Rwanda (155th) and Kazakhstan (157th). Tajikistan ranked 161st and Turkmenistan 179th. Both countries are in the so-called "black zone".

For the sixth year in a row, Norway tops the rank, followed by Denmark and Sweden. In the top ten were placed Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Portugal, Costa Rica, Lithuania and Lichtenstein.

Released each year by the international organization RSF, the index ranks 180 countries/territories according to the freedom that it allows to journalists based upon the organisation's own assessment of the countries' press freedom records in the previous year. It intends to reflect the degree of freedom that journalists, news organisations, and netizens have in each country, and the efforts made by authorities to respect this freedom.