Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka ranks 139th out of 180 in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), scoring 39.93—classified as “very serious,” an improvement from 150th in 2024 but still highlighting deep challenges.

No journalists were killed in Sri Lanka in 2025 or 2026 due to their work, per RSF (0 killed since January 2026), CPJ, and IFJ global tallies (none among 126–129 worldwide deaths in 2025). The last confirmed killing was in 2015, with earlier murders (at least 19 since 1992 per CPJ) tied to the civil war and post-2009 impunity.

Violence persists through harassment: summonses under anti-terror laws (e.g., photojournalist Kanapathipillai Kumanan in August 2025 for mass grave reporting), threats, intimidation of Tamil/Muslim journalists, surveillance, and cyber-attacks. Ongoing impunity for historical cases like Lasantha Wickrematunge’s 2009 murder (suspects discharged in 2025) and Prageeth Ekneligoda’s disappearance erodes trust. Political pressures, self-censorship, and sensitive ethnic issues constrain independent media in this fragile post-conflict society.