Sri Lanka had been ranked 165th in the list of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index 2014, Reporters without Borders said in its annual report.

This trend constitutes a growing threat worldwide and is even endangering freedom of information in countries regarded as democracies. Finland tops the index for the fourth year running, closely followed by the Netherlands and Norway, and just as last year, Finland and Eritrea were placed at first and 180th respectively.

The report further revealed that India had been ranked 140th in the 2014 World Press Freedom Index. At the other end of the index, the last three positions were once again occupied by Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea. This year’s index covers 180 countries, one more than last year. The new entry, Belize, has been assigned an enviable position (29th).

There are many examples of governments abusing the “fight against terrorism.” In Turkey (154th), dozens of journalists have been detained on this pretext, above all those who cover the Kurdish issue. In Sri Lanka, that was placed 165th, (- 2), the army shapes the news by suppressing accounts that stray too far from the official vision of “pacification” in the former Tamil separatist strongholds, Reporters without Borders said.

It said that in Israel (96th), the territorial integrity that was imperative, often suppresses freedom of information about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.