No fewer than eight whistleblowers, including Chelsea Manning, have been charged under the Espionage Act during Barack Obama’s two presidential terms, compared with just three under all the other administrations since its adoption in 1917, 2015 World Press Freedom Index report read.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — US President Barack Obama’s administration has charged almost three times more whistleblowers than the rest US administrations all together, according to Reporters Without Borders’s report issued on Thursday.

“No fewer than 8 whistleblowers, including Chelsea Manning, have been charged under the Espionage Act during Barack Obama’s two presidential terms, compared with just three under all the other administrations since its adoption in 1917,” 2015 World Press Freedom Index report read.

The report explained that the security paranoia, which triggered the whistleblowers chargers in the United States, was steming from 9/11 attacks.

Manning, a former US Army private who unveiled in 2010 troves of classified information, was sentenced to 35 years in prison for espionage and theft of government data. She is currently serving the sentence at the Fort Leavenworth, Kansas military prison.

Another whistleblower Edward Snowden, who leaked information about the extensive surveillance practices conducted by US Intelligence in June 2013, is wanted in the United States on a number of charges, including espionage and government property theft.

The United States is listed number 49 in 2015 World Press Freedom Index down 3 places compared to 2014. Three Scandinavian countries, Finland, and Denmark top the media pluralism and independence list, while Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea are placed at the very bottom of the list.