Jakarta – Indonesia's Press Freedom Index (IKP) has again declined, dropping to a score of 69.36 in 2024. This is a decline of 2 points from the previous year's score of 71.57.
"The decline in the IKP score shows that the state of the national press is not good at all. This can be seen from the economic, legal and political environment that influences the national IKP score", said Press Council Chairperson Ninik Rahayu in a written statement when opening an event launching the 2024 Press Freedom Index at the Press Council in Jakarta on Tuesday November 5.
Lampung province in South Sumatra was the region with the lowest IKP nationally with a score of 62.04, while South Kalimantan was the region with the highest IKP with a score of 80.91.
Indonesia's IKP score in 2024 was also recorded as the lowest since 2019 when it slumped to a score of 73.01.
The figure achieved this year also shows a trend in national press freedom which has continued to decline over the past two years. This can be seen from the IKP scores achieved for the past two years.
In 2022 Indonesia's IKP score was 77.78. This dropped six points to 71.57 in 2023. The decline continued through to this year.
Although a score of 69.36 is categorised as "quite free", the continued decline from year to year does not show that the press is truly free. (mab/asr)
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Indeks Kemerdekaan Pers RI Kembali Turun Tahun Ini, Lampung Terendah".]
