- Internet freedom declines in 2025 for 15th year in a row
- Half of the 18 countries classified as “free” are in decline
- Authoritarian governments export censorship tactics
Today the Internet is more controlled and manipulated than ever before.
This is the verdict of the annual Network Freedom Report published November 13th. Global internet freedom was found to have worsened this year for the 15th year in a row.
While reducing anonymity on the Internet is a huge problem, control over online information also continues to increase.
This process is not exclusive to authoritarian countries. Nine of the 18 countries with a “free” internet freedom status have lost ground, with the largest declines observed in Georgia, Germany and the United States.
In 2025, citizens around the world were once again forced to find new ways to protect their digital rights. This has led to an increase in demand for tools such as best VPNs and other censorship circumvention technologies.
Decline of democratic values
Over the study period (June 2024 – May 2025), the largest decline in Internet freedom occurred in Kenya. In June, the government carried out a brutal crackdown on nationwide protests. turning off the internet for the first time in the history of the country.
This was indicative of a broader trend that continued in a number of other democracies.
“In a worrying trend, conditions in democracies have deteriorated, with half of the 18 countries rated as free by Freedom on the Net experiencing declines. Only two have improved,” confirmed Grant Baker, technology and democracy analyst at Freedom House.
Georgia experienced the most significant decline of any country previously considered “free.” This decline, Baker explains, followed the ruling party's adoption of “repressive measures” targeting civil society and independent media in August 2024.
Even more surprising, perhaps, Germany next on this list. Since February, the new government has “prosecuted people who made memes about politicians, citing laws against insults and hate speech,” Freedom House noted. Levels of self-censorship have also increased throughout the country.
📣NEW: #FreedomOnTheNet 2025 is already STARTING! https://t.co/JSsMebz1u3A crackdown on mass protests, increased censorship and threats to free speech are fueling a 15th straight year of decline in global internet freedom. Conditions for exercising rights on the Internet have worsened in 27 of 72 countries… pic.twitter.com/5AfPH49wgnNovember 13, 2025
United States recorded the next largest decline among countries rated “free” this year, after Georgia and Germany. Experts detailed how the Trump administration detained several foreign nationals for one to two months after revoking their visas because of nonviolent speech online.
“The online environment remained diverse and free, benefiting from the protections provided by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. However, growing restrictions on civic space threaten to stifle digital activism,” Baker said.
While failures among established democracies are alarming, the broader picture continues to be defined by extreme digital repression in authoritarian contexts.
China And Myanmarfor example, are still at the bottom of the rankings, while Iceland took his place as the freest, followed by Estonia.
Same tactics, different governments
China, Myanmar and Russia remain at the forefront of global internet censorship and information control. And they continue to develop new methods and technologies to expand their capabilities.
However, experts also found a rise: the deliberate cross-border spread of censorship technologies and repressive tactics among like-minded governments.
As we previously reported, China helps Pakistan build an internet censorship system similar to the Great Firewall, and according to Freedom House, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, Myanmar, Cambodia and Belarus are also busy building similar infrastructure.
Given these trends, it is highly likely that we will also see an increase in coordinated VPN censorship campaigns in these countries.
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