Press freedom
Malta's press freedom record in EU context
This page sets out Malta's position in the World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), alongside a sample of other EU member states, and records the European Parliament prize named after Daphne Caruana Galizia. An index position is the assessment of the organisation that produces it, using its own indicators; it is reported here as RSF's assessment and not as an objective measurement. Every figure links to the edition it came from.
Malta in the RSF index, 2017–2026
Rank out of 180 territories, with the score recorded in each edition. Daphne Caruana Galizia was killed in October 2017; the 2018 edition was the first published after her assassination.
| Edition | Rank | Score | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 67 / 180 | 61.44 | Malta: country profile, World Press Freedom Index |
| 2025 | 67 / 180 | 62.96 | Malta: country profile, World Press Freedom Index |
| 2024 | 73 / 180 | 60.96 | World Press Freedom Index: 2024 edition ranking table |
| 2023 | 84 / 180 | 59.76 | World Press Freedom Index: 2023 edition ranking table |
| 2022 | 78 / 180 | 61.55 | World Press Freedom Index: 2022 edition ranking table |
| 2021 | 81 / 180 | 69.54 | World Press Freedom Index: 2021 edition ranking table |
| 2020 | 81 / 180 | 69.84 | World Press Freedom Index: 2020 edition ranking table |
| 2019 | 77 / 180 | 70.26 | World Press Freedom Index: 2019 edition ranking table |
| 2018 | 65 / 180 | 72.56 | World Press Freedom Index: 2018 edition ranking table |
| 2017 | 47 / 180 | 75.24 | World Press Freedom Index: 2017 edition ranking table |
RSF revised its methodology for the 2022 edition. Scores before and after that edition are calculated differently and should not be read as one continuous series. See RSF's own note on the index methodology.
Malta compared with selected EU member states
Figures from each country's RSF profile for the 2026 and 2025 editions. This is a sample for comparison, not the full EU-27 table. Where a claim is made about Malta's standing in the EU as a whole, it is attributed below to the outlet that made it.
| Country | 2026 rank | 2026 score | 2025 rank | RSF profile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Netherlands | 2 | 88.92 | 3 | RSF, Netherlands |
| Estonia | 3 | 88.54 | 2 | RSF, Estonia |
| Denmark | 4 | 88.47 | 6 | RSF, Denmark |
| Sweden | 5 | 87.61 | 4 | RSF, Sweden |
| Ireland | 7 | 85.93 | 7 | RSF, Ireland |
| Germany | 14 | 82.17 | 11 | RSF, Germany |
| France | 25 | 76.68 | 25 | RSF, France |
| Italy | 56 | 65.16 | 49 | RSF, Italy |
| Malta | 67 | 61.44 | 67 | RSF, Malta |
| Bulgaria | 71 | 60.28 | 70 | RSF, Bulgaria |
| Hungary | 74 | 59.85 | 68 | RSF, Hungary |
| Cyprus | 80 | 56.91 | 77 | RSF, Cyprus |
| Greece | 86 | 55.05 | 89 | RSF, Greece |
According to The Malta Independent, reporting on the 2024 edition, Malta "remains second worst in the EU for press freedom". That characterisation is the outlet's, based on the full EU table of that edition - The Malta Independent, 3 May 2024.
Reporting on the 2026 edition described Malta as stagnating at 67th place - The Shift News, 30 April 2026. On the 2025 edition, see The Malta Independent, 2 May 2025.
The Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize for Journalism
The European Parliament named its annual journalism prize after Daphne Caruana Galizia. The prize, worth EUR 20,000, is awarded each year around the anniversary of her assassination to in-depth journalism that promotes the values of the European Union. The award of a prize in her name is a commemorative and institutional act by the Parliament; it is recorded here as such and is not itself a finding about the case.
- European Parliament, Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize for Journalism: official prize site
- European Parliament, The Pegasus Project awarded the 2021 Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize for Journalism
- Reuters, EU awards journalism prize to Israeli malware investigation
2025, Follow the Money and partners
Investigation into the Russian 'shadow fleet' of sanctioned oil tankers.
European Parliament, Russian shadow fleet investigation wins Daphne Caruana Galizia journalism prize
2024, Lost in Europe consortium
Investigation into unaccompanied migrant children who disappear after arriving in Europe.
European Parliament, Investigation into missing migrant children wins 2024 journalism prize
2023, International consortium of journalists
Investigation into the Pylos migrant boat shipwreck off Greece in June 2023.
European Parliament, Investigation into Pylos migrant shipwreck wins 2023 EP journalism prize
2022, Clément Di Roma and Carol Valade
Documentary on Russian influence operations in the Central African Republic.
European Parliament, 2022 EP journalism prize awarded to film about Russian influence in Africa
2021, The Pegasus Project
Cross-border investigation into the use of Pegasus spyware against journalists and activists: the first award of the prize.
Press freedom organisations on Malta
- Committee to Protect Journalists and partner organisations, on the anniversary of the assassination: CPJ, October 2025 and joint press freedom mission to Malta, 15 October 2021.
- Media Freedom Rapid Response on the implementation of the public inquiry's recommendations: MFRR, 28 July 2022; and on the 2026 acquittal: IPI / MFRR statement.
- Council of Europe Platform for the Safety of Journalists, alerts filed on Malta: Platform alerts (index page, deep link needed).
How to read these figures
- RSF revised the index methodology for the 2022 edition. Scores from 2022 onwards are calculated differently from 2017-2021 scores and should not be read as a continuous series; ranks are affected by the same change.
- The table of EU comparators is a sample drawn from RSF country profiles, not the complete EU-27 ranking. Where a claim about Malta's position relative to the whole EU is made on this page, it is attributed to the outlet that made it.
- A ranking is an assessment produced by an advocacy organisation using its own indicators. It is cited here as the assessment of RSF, not as an objective measure.