China, Myanmar, and Israel lead jailers of journalists in 2025
New York, January 21, 2026 — For the fifth consecutive year, more than 300 journalists were behind bars at year-end, according to a new report released by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). China, Myanmar, and Israel were the leading jailers of journalists on the census date of December 1, 2025, followed by Russia and Belarus.
Globally, CPJ documented a total of 330 journalists behind bars in connection with their work at the end of 2025 — the third highest number since CPJ began keeping records in 1992 and just shy of a record 384 in jail at the end of 2024. The number of journalists in jail remains stubbornly high amid spiking authoritarianism and unrest worldwide.
Furthermore, journalists are being held under cruel and life-threatening conditions. CPJ documented reports of mistreatment experienced by nearly one-third of imprisoned journalists in its 2025 prison census, including 20% with claims of torture or beatings. Since 1992, a CPJ analysis found the greatest incidence of torture and beatings occurred in Iran, followed by Israel and Egypt.
“Autocracies and democracies alike are locking up journalists to quash dissent and stifle independent reporting,” said CPJ CEO Jodie Ginsberg. “Every journalist jailed is a blow to the public’s right to know.”
For the third consecutive year, China maintained its status as the world’s worst jailer of journalists, with 50 held, including seven in Hong Kong. Among these cases are CPJ’s International Press Freedom Awardees Jimmy Lai and Dong Yuyu. CPJ research indicates China’s routine use of anti-state charges to target journalists. This trend is replicated throughout 2025’s global cases, with 61% of all imprisoned journalists jailed on anti-state charges.
In 2025, Myanmar rose to the second-worst jailer from third in 2024, with 30 journalists jailed on December 1, 2025. Over the preceding years, CPJ has documented a deteriorating media environment in Myanmar following a 2021 military coup.
Israel moved to the third-worst jailer from the second in 2024, with 29 Palestinian journalists behind bars on December 1, despite a ceasefire and prisoner exchanges. The majority of journalists are being held in arbitrary detention without due process or a legal basis for their arrests. Arbitrary detention is another avenue for Israel to restrict the public’s right to information about what human rights groups and experts agree is a genocide, occurring in tandem with an unprecedented number of targeted killings of journalists by Israeli forces, smear campaigns against reporters and news outlets, and the prevention of independent access by media from outside Gaza.
In 2025, Asia retained its position as the region with the most imprisoned journalists in the world, with 110 — one-third of the overall total — behind bars as of December 1. In addition to China and Myanmar leading this year’s census, Vietnam held at least 16 journalists as the country grappled with deepening repression. In South Asia, Bangladesh kept four journalists behind bars, while India had two imprisoned. Frenchie Mae Cumpio was the only jailed journalist in the Philippines, held in detention for nearly six years without conviction.
In Europe and Central Asia, 96 journalists were imprisoned. Russia topped the region with 27 imprisoned journalists, two in five of those Ukrainian, following an uptick of arrests in retaliation for coverage of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Belarus’ crackdown on the press continues with 25 journalists in prison, and Azerbaijan holds 24 journalists, an increase from 13 in 2024. In Georgia, the harsh sentencing of Mzia Amaglobeli is indicative of a rapidly eroding press freedom environment.
The Middle East and North Africa had 76 behind bars. In addition to Israel’s detention of Palestinian journalists, Egypt held 18 journalists, continuing retaliatory arrests of journalists and their family members. The region also has seen a decline in arrests by some nations, but attacks on the press continue unabated: Saudi Arabia held eight journalists jailed from a peak of 27 in 2019, and Iran has five journalists held from the 2022 high of 55, before the unrest that the country witnessed in late 2025.
In Africa, 42 journalists were detained as of December 1, 2025. Eritrea has held all of the 16 journalists imprisoned for at least two decades, with their legal status, health, and whereabouts all unknown. In Ethiopia, five of the journalists were held and face terrorism charges after covering the ongoing conflict in the Amhara region. René Capain Bassène continues to serve a life sentence in Senegal, despite flawed evidence in his case.
The Americas only had six journalists imprisoned, obscuring a trend of political persecution for journalists reporting on corruption throughout the region. On December 1, Venezuela held three journalists, but since then reports say at least two have been released following President Nicolás Maduro’s capture by U.S. forces in January 2026. International Press Freedom Awardee José Rubén Zamora continues to be arbitrarily detained in Guatemala, a country that uses criminal law to curtail independent reporting. In the United States, no journalists were imprisoned in relation to their work on December 1. Since the beginning of President Trump’s second term, the country has imprisoned, arrested, and refused entry to journalists in retaliation for their reporting.
The majority of journalists imprisoned on December 1, 2025, covered politics. CPJ’s data shows that 26% of journalists in this year’s census have languished in jail for five years or more, without being sentenced, in violation of international law, which requires fair trials without undue delay.
In 2025, 116 journalists were released from prison. CPJ directly supports imprisoned and newly released journalists with legal, medical, trauma, and other health-related assistance. Over the past five years, the number of journalists who received both prison and post-prison support from CPJ rose by almost 200%.
CPJ’s database now tracks dynamic data on imprisoned journalists, reflecting cases of all verified journalists held by government authorities for more than 48 hours, as well as information about releases, from December 1, 2024, onwards.
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About the Committee to Protect Journalists
The Committee to Protect Journalists is an independent, nonprofit organization that promotes press freedom worldwide. We defend the right of journalists to report the news safely and without fear of reprisal.
CPJ’s annual prison census is a snapshot of journalists jailed globally for their work as of 12:01 a.m. on December 1. The census includes only those journalists CPJ has confirmed to have been imprisoned in relation to their reporting or coverage by their outlet; it does not include those classified as “missing” or “abducted” if they have disappeared or are held captive by non-state actors.
CPJ defines journalists as people who regularly cover news or comment on public affairs through any medium to report or share fact-based information with an audience.
The census does not include the many journalists imprisoned and released throughout the year; accounts of those cases can be found at http://cpj.org. Journalists remain on CPJ’s list until the organization determines with reasonable certainty that they have been released or have died in custody.
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