RSF names 33 'press freedom predators' for 2026 — Trump and Egypt's Sisi join Putin, Xi and the Israeli military on the list
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has published its 2026 list of 'press freedom predators' — 33 individuals and organisations that the press-freedom group says deliberately restrict independent journalism, through imprisonment, killing, prosecution, smear campaigns, economic pressure or interference in editorial policy. Published on Monday 2 November to mark the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, the list adds US President Donald Trump and Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi for the first time, and names, among others, Vladimir Putin, the Chinese Communist Party, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Israeli armed forces, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Elon Musk, Vincent Bolloré, Alphabet and Meta. Every entry is RSF's own assessment, with a profile for each name; none of it is a court finding.
Checking in progress
This story is still being checked. Claims below are published as claims — never dressed as facts — and each one moves only when the evidence earns it.
- Collecting reportsDone
- Grouping the versionsDone
- Checking claims5 of 5 claims checked
- 4Human gateWe are here
5 of 5 claims checked so far · step 4 of 4: Human gate
Key points
- RSF's 2026 Press Freedom Predators list names 33 people and organisations in five categories (security, political, legal, social, economic) — published Monday 2 November, the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists (RSF; DPA).
- New entries: Donald Trump (political) and Egypt's Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (security). The US falls seven places to 64th of 180 in RSF's 2026 index; Egypt ranks 169th.
- Also named: Putin, the Chinese Communist Party, Mohammed bin Salman, the Israeli armed forces, Erdoğan, Milei, Musk, Bolloré, FCC chair Brendan Carr, Alphabet and Meta, and Mexican criminal groups.
- Every entry is RSF's assessment with its own profile — an accusation list from a press-freedom organisation, not a court finding; no responses from those named had been published in the reports read for this page.
Watch: the moment itself
Direct video sits at the top of Vozia's evidence ladder — the moment itself, from its owner. Embedded from its home platform; we never download or re-host it.
Video: FRANCE 24 English · Watch on YouTube
What happened
The predators list has appeared at irregular intervals since 2001 and is deliberately not a ranking: RSF says it brings together the officials and entities it believes played a direct role in the year's deterioration of press freedom, each with a profile setting out the violations it attributes to them and the methods it says they use — imprisonment, killing, prosecution, smears, economic pressure and editorial interference.
The 2026 edition reaches beyond governments: a sitting US president appears for the first time, a regulator (the FCC's chairman) is listed in the legal category, and the world's two biggest digital-advertising companies are listed in the economic category — RSF's argument being that the power to silence journalism now sits with platforms and regulators as well as with police and courts.
Claim by claim
Why this label: The publication, the count of 33, the five categories and the no-ranking point are stated by RSF and reported identically by DPA (read in full in this pass) and by Zawia3's full report on the list and its RSF profiles (read in full). The date ties to the UN-recognised International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: Verified as RSF's stated assessment and its published index position: DPA reports the accusation and the 64th place; Zawia3's read of RSF's Trump profile adds the access, USAGM and litigation detail, including the February 2025 Associated Press access bar and the federal ruling that followed. These are RSF's accusations and characterisations — the Trump administration's position is that its Pentagon rules are security measures, as RSF's own profile records. No response from the White House to the listing itself had been published in the reports read for this page.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: Verified as RSF's profile and the positions around it, all from Zawia3's full read of the RSF material in this pass: the 26-detained tally is RSF's, the Matsda2sh charges and the ministry's position are stated there, and Human Rights Watch's call for the journalists' rights to be guaranteed is recorded in the same report. The underlying charges are accusations in live proceedings, not findings.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Show all claims (2 more)
Why this label: The names and categories are RSF's published list, reported consistently by DPA and Zawia3 (both read in full). The figures inside the claim — 15 detained in Saudi Arabia, the Gaza journalist deaths — are RSF's own counts, carried as RSF's counts, not as independently settled tolls; the Israeli military disputes characterisations of its conduct toward journalists, and no response from any of those named to the 2026 listing had been published in the reports read for this page.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: Bruttin's explanation is in Zawia3's report and in his France 24 interview of 2 November (the video attached to this page, whose oEmbed record was verified in this run). This is RSF's stated method, carried as such.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
What we know / what we don't know yet
What we know
- That RSF published the list, whom it names, in which categories, and the reasoning in its own profiles — from RSF's published material as reported in full by DPA and Zawia3 in this pass.
- RSF's 2026 index positions cited on this page: United States 64th of 180, Egypt 169th, Saudi Arabia 176th.
What we don't know yet
- Any response from those named to the 2026 listing — none had been published in the reports read for this page; the page will be updated when responses appear.
- Whether RSF's underlying counts (26 detained in Egypt, 15 in Saudi Arabia, the Gaza journalist deaths) match other monitors' counts — they are carried here as RSF's figures.
Why it matters
A list like this changes nothing by itself — RSF has no court and no sanctions. Its weight is reputational and cumulative: it is the document governments, funders and courts cite when a president, a crown prince, a military or a tech giant is accused of squeezing the press. Putting a US president, the FCC's chairman and Google's and Meta's owners alongside the security categories is RSF's statement that press freedom in 2026 is threatened by democracies' own institutions and by platforms, not only by censors and jailers.
Background
RSF publishes the first Press Freedom Predators list; it has appeared at irregular intervals since (DPA).
RSF's 2026 World Press Freedom Index is published; the predators list follows from the same monitoring, naming the actors rather than the countries.
The 2026 predators list is published, timed to the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists; RSF director-general Thibaut Bruttin presents it on France 24.
Update history
No silent edits. Every change is written here, with its time.
- Latest
Story published in Checking state (queue #889). Basis: RSF's 2026 list and profiles as reported in full by DPA and Zawia3, both read in this pass; France 24's Bruttin interview attached after its oEmbed check returned 200. All entries are carried as RSF's assessments, not as findings.