Mongolia: RSF condemns arbitrary police operation against independent media outlet Noorog
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns the police’s raid on the newsroom of the independent digital outlet Noorog, overnight questioning of Noorog’s staff and confiscation of their professional equipment. This arbitrary operation was based on the bogus accusation that Noorog had "undermined national unity" and followed the outlet's announcement for their upcoming documentary on the country’s recent elections.
On 17 March 2025, Mongolian police raided the independent media Noorog’s newsroom in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia. The police seized computers, hard drives as well as employee’s personal phones. Eight staff members — almost the entire team — were interrogated from 10 p.m. until 6 a.m., when they were released.
The journalists were initially questioned under the pretext that they had "undermined national unity," an offence punishable by up to twelve years in prison under the Mongolian Criminal Code, yet officials changed the accusations multiple times, wavering from “illegal online gambling activities” to “spreading false information” to “causing the suicide of others.” The charges of national unity and false information were eventually dropped.
Noorog’s journalists say they were only questioned about their professional activities, including content produced by the outlet. They suspect the case is linked to their recent announcement that they will be releasing a documentary on Mongolia’s elections in June. In the documentary, journalists follow six citizens during the country’s 2024 parliamentary election campaign, exposing the strategies used by political parties to influence voters.
“This search, carried out under an obviously false pretext, is intolerable and a serious attack on source confidentiality and press freedom. We call on the Mongolian authorities to abandon the abusive proceedings brought against Noorog's team, and on the country’s lawmakers to strengthen the right to protect the confidentiality of journalists’ sources within the framework of the press freedom law currently being debated in Parliament.
Founded in 2022, Noorog has built a strong presence on social media, producing video reports and investigative content often critical of the government. In a recent report, the outlet challenged the government’s claims of progress in fighting corruption, providing data to support its findings.
The ongoing deterioration of press freedom
The raid on Noorog is part of a worrying decline in press freedom in Mongolia, which has dropped 36 places in the RSF World Press Freedom Index since 2020. This repressive climate is further illustrated by the prosecution of Bayarmaa Ayurzana, editor-in-chief of the online media outlet Tac.mn, who faces up to eight years in prison for investigating a case of embezzlement of public funds linked to the Deputy Prime Minister. In a hearing held on 21 March, the judges postponed the trial to an unknown date.
The proceedings against journalist Unurtsetseg Naran also raised serious concerns about judicial fairness. Although she was pardoned on 8 March by Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh, her case — from her sentencing in a closed-door trial to the conditions of her release — has been shrouded in complete secrecy.
In response to this worrying trend and the government’s planned reform of the press freedom law, RSF has submitted recommendations to Mongolian lawmakers on strengthening legal protections for journalists.
Mongolia ranks 109th out of 180 countries and territories in the RSF 2024 World Press Freedom Index. The press freedom situation is considered “difficult,” due to frequent abusive criminal proceedings against journalists under the pretext of defamation, as well as a high concentration of media ownership in the hands of the economic and political elites.
