The group ranked Armenia 50th out of 180 countries in its latest World Press Freedom Index released on Thursday. The South Caucasus country occupied 34^th place in its previous rankings.

“Despite Armenia’s varied media landscape, its media remains polarized,” RSF said in a report. “The country is facing an unprecedented level of disinformation and hate speech fed by internal political tension, security problems at the country’s borders and the country’s complicated position between Russia and the European Union.”

“Only a handful of media outlets demonstrate independence,” it said, listing the Azatutyun.am website of RFE/RL’s Armenian Service among them.

“Journalists are often subjected to pressure, insults and violence by both ruling party officials and opposition politicians, as well as their supporters — whether in Parliament, the street, or on social media,” added the report. “In general, violence towards journalists goes unpunished.”

Artur Papian, the chairman of the Yerevan Press Club, believes that RSF painted an objective picture of the Armenian media landscape.

“The indicator that we have now is closer to the reality which I saw even last year,” Papian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.

According to Aram Abrahamian, the veteran editor of the independent Aravot daily, the pressure cited by RSF is aggravated by Armenian officials’ and their loyalists’ claims about Russia’s “hybrid war” against Armenia.

“Of course, they do not directly apply only to journalists,” said Abrahamian. “But that intolerant atmosphere, their fairy tales that all oppositionists, including critical journalists, come from some hostile camps — from Armenia, abroad, etc. — of course, also add to and spoil the atmosphere.”

The Committee to Protect Freedom of Speech, another Yerevan-based watchdog, recorded eight instances of insults and threats addressed to Armenian journalists or obstruction of their work in the first quarter of this year. All but one of them emanated from the government, it said in a recent report.

The RSF report also noted that Armenia’s “state-owned media outlets refrain from all criticism of the government,” contradicting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s assertion earlier this week that the Armenian media is free from any government control or influence.

“If I stop being prime minister you will lose your jobs four hours later,” Pashinian told journalists.

“You just cannot fail to vote for us in the 2026 parliamentary elections,” he said. “Or else, you will at least become jobless or at most acquire disability … if you continue to exercise your right to free speech the way you do now.”

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