In spite of Ireland being notorious for its defamation laws, RSF said journalists in Ireland were able to work freely and without interference, but that concern remained over the future of RTÉ.

Norway took the top spot for the seventh year running, while Denmark was ranked third. The Netherlands rose 22 places after a significant drop in the 2022 due to the murder of crime reporter Peter R. de Vries.

The last three places are occupied solely by Asian countries.

Vietnam was ranked 178th, which, according to RSF, is due to “its hunt of independent reporters and commentators”.

China dropped four places to 179th, owing to its title as the world’s biggest jailer of journalists and “one of the biggest exporters of propaganda content.”

North Korea, probably unsurprisingly, came in last, at 180th.

RSF Secretary General Christophe Deloire said: "The World Press Freedom Index shows enormous volatility in situations, with major rises and falls and unprecedented changes, such as Brazil’s 18-place rise and Senegal’s 31-place fall.

“This instability is the result of increased aggressiveness on the part of the authorities in many countries and growing animosity towards journalists on social media and in the physical world.

“The volatility is also the consequence of growth in the fake content industry, which produces and distributes disinformation and provides the tools for manufacturing it.

A statement from RSF said the index places a spotlight on the effect of fake digital content and misinformation.

“In 118 countries (two-thirds of the 180 countries evaluated by the Index), most of the Index questionnaire’s respondents reported that political actors in their countries were often or systematically involved in massive disinformation or propaganda campaigns,” the statement said.

“The difference is being blurred between true and false, real and artificial, facts and artifices, jeopardising the right to information. The unprecedented ability to tamper with content is being used to undermine those who embody quality journalism and weaken journalism itself,” it added.

RSF also highlighted Elon Musk as “pushing an arbitrary, payment-based approach to information to the extreme”.

Russia fell nine places to 164th, due to spreading misinformation surrounding the invasion of Ukraine and cracking down on independent media outlets.

The United States fell three places, while Brazil’s 18-place rise occurred in tandem with the departure of Jair Bolsonaro.

Australia and Malaysia were other big risers, at 12 and 40 places, respectively. Meanwhile, India and Turkey had significant drops on the index, down 11 and 16 places each.