Global internet freedom has now declined for fifteen consecutive years, and for the first time the erosion is being driven as much by established democracies as by authoritarian regimes. A new report from Freedom House, released Thursday, found that both the United States and Germany recorded their lowest-ever scores on the organization's internet freedom index, a sign that restrictive habits once associated with closed political systems are taking root in open ones too.
Democracies Narrow Civic Space
According to Freedom House, the United States scored 73 out of 100 for the year through May 2025, down three points and its weakest showing on record. The report linked part of the decline to the detention of non-citizens over online statements, a practice that has intensified under the Trump administration, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio pledging to deport individuals over posts related to Israel - a policy now being contested in court. For users increasingly wary of how their online activity might be scrutinized or stored, interest in encrypted connections and tools such as a vpn for router has grown as a way of shielding household traffic from casual monitoring, even though such tools offer no protection against legal action tied to public speech.
Germany's score fell by the same margin, to 74, with Freedom House citing growing self-censorship and the vigorous enforcement of laws against hate speech and defamation. The report highlighted the case of a far-right website editor given a suspended jail sentence and fined over a manipulated image posted to criticize a politician. Germany has long defended strict speech laws as a necessary response to its Nazi-era history, a justification that has drawn repeated criticism from Washington even as the Trump administration pursues its own restrictions on expression at home.
Authoritarian Repression Deepens
Kian Vesteinsson, co-author of the report, said the pattern reflects two distinct but converging trends. Authoritarian and authoritarian-leaning governments continue to tighten control over the internet as a tool for preserving power, while democracies in North America and Western Europe are narrowing civic space through content restrictions and legal enforcement aimed at speech deemed hateful or problematic. Kenya registered the sharpest decline of any country after briefly shutting down internet access during nationwide protests, while Venezuela and Georgia also saw steep drops. Serbia was downgraded from "free" to "partly free," and Nicaragua fell from "partially free" to "not free."
A Rare Bright Spot
Bangladesh stood out as the year's biggest improver, after a new government formed in the wake of a student-led uprising loosened restrictions that had constrained online expression under the previous administration. Freedom House, founded during World War II to promote democratic governance and historically reliant on US government funding despite operating independently, has itself been affected by the shifting political climate - the Trump administration cut its funding after returning to office, forcing layoffs at the organization even as it continues to track the global retreat of online freedom it describes in its own reporting.
