Key Takeaways:
- RSF has branded HonestReporting a “press predator” alongside dictators and authoritarian regimes, equating legitimate media criticism and accountability with attacks on press freedom.
- RSF has quietly removed Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists from its database of slain journalists, exposing serious flaws in its reporting and raising questions about its complaints to the International Criminal Court.
- RSF’s accusations against HonestReporting are baseless and hypocritical, reflecting an attempt to discredit the watchdog while deflecting attention from RSF’s own failures to distinguish journalists from terrorists.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Chinese Communist Party, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Saudi Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, and… HonestReporting.
Not the sort of company we expected to be part of, but these are just some of the names included in the 2026 Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Press Freedom Predators List.
So why does RSF think an information watchdog holding the media to account deserves to be on the list?
According to RSF, Israel is relentlessly vilifying media professionals reporting on regional conflicts, and “At the forefront of the propaganda fuelling these smear campaigns is the website HonestReporting, which has members — including directors — that have ties with Israeli politicians and leaders.”
Among the charges leveled at HonestReporting by RSF:
- We “portray journalists as participants in a conspiracy, making poorly substantiated allegations and circulating deceptive AI-generated images that put journalists at risk.”
- We carry out “Smear campaigns targeting dozens of media outlets and journalists who covered Israeli policies with a critical stance or expressed views unfavourable to the Israeli government.”
- We deny or justify “war crimes committed by the Israeli military against journalists in Gaza.”
And our “weapon of choice”: “Baseless accusations that journalists engage in unethical conduct, support terrorism or promote antisemitism.”
Quite the rap sheet, none of which actually stands up to scrutiny.
It’s quite clear why RSF is attacking HonestReporting. We are the organization that revealed how RSF has stealthily removed terrorists from its list of slain Gazan journalists while inexplicably allowing other terrorists to remain classified as journalists.
Those removed include:
- Smart News internet reporter Mohammad Jarghoun, whom Hamas admitted was a member of its Rafah Brigade.
- Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) member Mohamed Nasr Abu Huwaidi.
- PIJ Al Quds Brigade terrorist and Shams News Agency managing editor Muhammad Mahmoud Abu Sharia, who was removed from the database and an ongoing article.
- Al-Rai radio’s Assem Al-Barsh, who was announced by Hamas to have been a fighter in the Northern Brigade’s Martyr Imad Aqel Battalion.
Al-Barsh, Abu Huwaidi and Abu Sharia were the subjects of criminal complaints filed by RSF with the International Criminal Court (ICC) accusing Israel of war crimes for their deaths, and it is unknown if these complaints have been withdrawn or revised.
If they have not been withdrawn, RSF’s complaints are effectively criminalizing Israel for killing terrorists. The organization should be embarrassed.
If anyone is bringing the profession of journalism into disrepute, it is RSF. Its inclusion of HonestReporting as a “press predator” is both a sign of our ever-increasing impact and an attempt by RSF to divert attention from its own failings by attacking our organization and seeking to discredit our work.
Even the RSF claim that HonestReporting is “circulating deceptive AI-generated images that put journalists at risk” is simply laughable. Using illustrative pictures to visually represent the theme or story in an article is standard in news articles and feature items from print magazines to documentary thumbnails. An organization that ostensibly represents journalists should be familiar with the concept. Our graphic designer, whose vivid images illustrate some of our articles, will be surprised to hear that her work is being described in such terms. And our “members — including directors — that have ties with Israeli politicians and leaders” will also be surprised to see that they have been promoted to this level of power and influence.
As for the RSF list itself, how is it possible that genuine “press predators” such as Putin, Erdogan, the CCP, and other dictators and autocrats who deliberately target journalists, often with violence, are on the same list as Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Meta, and Google’s parent company Alphabet?
RSF’s ridiculous moral equivalence, lack of proportion, and inability to distinguish between terrorists and journalists, as well as between legitimate criticism and unwarranted assaults, demonstrate why the 2026 Press Freedom Predators List is, quite frankly, a joke.
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© Divuach Ne’eman R”A, 2025
