Freedom of press is indispensable for development of free dialogue and democracy. Each and every person should have a right to speak and an absolute freedom of press unless the restriction is reasonable. Press freedom is celebrated in some of the Asian nations like South Korea and Japan. However, the majority of the Asian nations are still in the developing stages to provide a complete freedom of press. In this paper, the authors have highlighted the situation of freedom of press in three major Asian countries and how the respective governments are misusing their powers to clampdown the same. A brief history of the freedom of press in Asia is discussed. The authors have attempted to explain the sorrowful conditions of the journalists in these Asian Countries. Further, several factual cases have been cited to show the current grief of the journalists who speak up against the administration and the atrocities towards them. Also, the authors have explained the importance of dissent in a society and how it becomes a crucial factor for growth and development of the citizens and hence the country as a whole. The authors have given several suggestions which may help in improving the freedom of press for three different scenarios in these respective nations. The paper ends with a conclusion of the analysis done by the authors.

Keywords: Journalism, dissent, transparency, freedom, expression.​

DOI: http://doi.one/10.1732/IJLMH.25871