International media freedom monitor Reporters Without Borders has downgraded Russia in its annual Press Freedom Index, to 142nd from 140th place.

“In Russia the media freedom pano¬rama continues to be gloomy… The unprecedented demonstrations in December 2011 augur a period of uncertainty – while some newsrooms seem to be becoming more outspoken, the state’s repressive apparatus has so far been able to cope with the unrest,” the Paris-based organization said on its web site, according to RIA Novosti.

Last month's rallies against suspected vote fraud in favor of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party at the December 4 parliamentary polls drew tens of thousands of protesters in Moscow and across Russia.

State-run TV channels initially gave only limited coverage of the rallies, and subsequently edited out any direct criticism of Putin at the protests.

The United States also fell in the Reporters Without Borders ranking from 47th to 27th position for the crackdown on protesters at the Occupy Wall Street rallies last year.