KUALA LUMPUR -- Malaysia plunged 18 places in Reporters Without Borders' annual press freedom ranking for 2021 -- the steepest drop from last year among all countries -- as Southeast Asia remained mired toward the lower end of the index.
Malaysia placed 119th out of 180 countries surveyed by the organization known by its French acronym, RSF. Its "astonishing 18-place fall, the biggest of any country in the index, is directly linked to the formation of a new coalition government in March 2020," RSF said in an analysis attached to the ranking.
