Screenshot from the report
Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has been added to the 2026 'Press Freedom Predators' list compiled by international watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF). He was placed in the 'Law' category for weaponising the judicial system against journalists and news outlets, according to an RSF press release published on 2 November to mark the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists.
In this category, Tokayev joins Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Indian billionaire Gautam Adani's conglomerate, and Russia's state media regulator Roskomnadzor. RSF asserts that all of them rely on abusive litigation to stifle independent reporting.
«The Predators gallery is an RSF anti-ranking akin to cinema's Golden Raspberry Awards—a dishonour roll for the worst offenders. While not claiming absolute objectivity, it includes only individuals and entities that over the past year have shown a clear determination to harm the press,» Reporters Without Borders explained.
A total of 33 individuals and organisations were named on the 2026 list, divided into five categories: politics, security, economics, law, and society.
Prominent figures on the list include US President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, alongside the Israel Defense Forces, Mexican drug cartels, and the Chinese Communist Party.
RSF cited Trump for systematic attacks on American media and journalists. The watchdog noted that since the start of his second presidential term, pressure on the press has escalated beyond hostile rhetoric and state policy into physical restrictions targeting media workers.
Regarding China, RSF noted that under Xi Jinping, the country remains the world's biggest prison for journalists. The Israel Defense Forces and Benjamin Netanyahu's government, according to the organisation, enforce repressive policies against reporters across the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and Lebanon. In Mexico, cartels sustain a climate of terror as targeted killings of journalists continue.
In the 'Society' category, Elon Musk made the dishonour roll. The group also singled out Argentine President Javier Milei, who once claimed that «we don't hate journalists enough."
The economic category features tech giants Alphabet and Meta, as well as business moguls Bidzina Ivanishvili and Vincent Bolloré. RSF warned that their practices risk marginalising independent media, choking off newsroom funding, and undermining editorial autonomy.
«Behind the statistics, the regressions, and the obstacles to journalism stand real individuals. Whether they act through physical or rhetorical violence, legislation, threats, online manipulation, or economic leverage, these predators share a single objective: to prevent journalists from doing their jobs and deprive citizens of access to free, independent information,» RSF stressed.
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev is the sole Central Asian figure included in RSF's satirical anti-ranking. In the latest World Press Freedom Index, Kazakhstan ranked 149th out of 180 countries, dropping eight places in a single year. Regional neighbours Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan placed higher, at 146th and 147th respectively.
