Shafaq News-Baghdad
Iraq’s Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidion Saturday called for adherence to professional and ethical media standards,stressing the need to distinguish between freedom of expression and practicessuch as extortion, defamation, and character assassination.
During a meeting withjournalists, opinion leaders, and political and economic specialists whovisited him to offer Eid Al-Adha greetings, Al-Zaidi highlighted the role ofmedia professionals and public commentators in clarifying facts and explaininggovernment policies. He also reaffirmed his government’s commitment tosupporting national media and press institutions, portraying the sector as an “essentialpartner in the nation-building process” and an important contributor toanti-corruption efforts, reform, stability, and development.
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According to the 2026 WorldPress Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders, Iraq ranked 162ndout of 180 countries, falling seven places from the previous year with anoverall score of 28.85 out of 100. Ziad Al-Ajili, head of the Press FreedomsCenter, previously told Shafaq News that 2025 and 2026 represent among theworst years for Iraqi journalism in recent memory. Restrictions on journalists'movement and access, he said, have increasingly limited field reporting, evenas digital tools like artificial intelligence offer theoretical workaroundsthat institutional and security constraints make difficult to use in practice.
Readmore: Iraq's press freedom index falls amid record violations
