• 4.2 billion people (53% of the global population) live in countries where freedom of expression is in ‘Crisis’, where they aren’t free to speak their minds or access information without serious consequences - more people than any time this century so far

• ‍Less than a quarter (23%) of the global population live in countries where freedom of expression environment is considered ‘Open’ or ‘Less Restricted’

• In one of the world’s hidden stories, India’s expression score has dropped 35 points in the last 10 years - moving the country from ‘Restricted’ to ‘Crisis’ category

• Following Jair Bolsonaro’s defeat in 2022, Brazil’s expression score jumped 26 points in the last year, bringing the country back to ‘Open’ category

The percentage of people living in countries where freedom of expression is considered in ‘Crisis’ rose from 34% in 2022 to 53% in 2023, reveals the latest Global Expression Report by human rights organisation ARTICLE 19.

The Global Expression Report measures the freedom of everyone, regardless of the nature of their work or role in society, to express opinions and beliefs, to communicate and to access information.

As billions of people in more than 50 countries are heading to the polls in 2024, the data shows that more than 4.2 billion people in 39 countries now live in places where citizens can’t express themselves or participate freely in public life, the media is censored, journalists are harassed, and where dissent is punished.

The growth in population living in ‘Crisis’ countries has been driven by India, which shifted from the ‘Highly Restricted’ category last year. India has seen a 35 point decline in its score over the past 10 years, since Narendra Modi became prime minister in 2014. In that time, the country has declined in 24 out of the 25 freedom of expression indicators that make up the Global Expression metric. The general elections in India take place this year amid the muzzling of independent media, attacks on opposition parties, civil society and religious minorities, and continuing threats of internet shutdowns.

In the last 10 years, 6.2 billion people across 78 countries experienced a deterioration of their freedom of expression; only 303 million people across 18 countries saw improvement. 

Quinn McKew, Executive Director of ARTICLE 19, said:

‍‍“This year’s Global Expression Report sounds a very loud alarm bell. At no point in the last 20 years have so many people been denied the benefits of open societies, like the ability to voice opinions, access a free media or participate in free and open elections. ‍“India’s decline has happened in plain sight, yet it’s a story not many want to talk about. The data is clear - the first signs of an erosion of democracy come from attacks on expression. Given that India touts itself as the ‘world’s largest democracy’, the silencing of voices should be of major global concern.‍“But violations of freedoms happen every day and around the world, as leaders degrade our freedoms one by one. Many do so through subtle policy changes presented in the name of ‘public safety’, 'morality’ or ‘national security’ - tightening the net until there is no room left to breathe. ‍“This politics of convenience and obsessive narrative control must be replaced by a politics of possibility and diversity, one which recognises that our collective future depends on more voices being able to debate freely. Our governments and institutions must recognise this - we need more of them to be for free expression, not afraid of it.”

The story of global expression decline is not limited to authoritarian or hybrid regimes. In the past 10 years, the UK has seen a decline across 6 out of 25 indicators, including freedom from internet censorship efforts and freedom of peaceful assembly (on which it ranks lower than the United States and most EU countries, apart from Hungary, Poland and Romania). In the same time period, the United States has declined across 9 indicators, including freedom of academic exchange and freedom of peaceful assembly.

The report also highlights the transformative potential that elections can have in shifting the country's freedom of expression environment. Brazil dropped into the ‘Restricted’ category in 2019, following Jair Bolsonaro’s victory in the presidential race. Now, after Bolsonaro’s defeat by Lula da Silva in 2022, Brazil saw a 26 point increase in its score, moving the country two categories from ‘Restricted’ to ‘Open’. In the past year, Brazil advanced across 17 out of 25 freedom of expression indicators, including freedom from harassment of journalists, civil society freedoms and freedom of peaceful assembly.

Maria Trajan, Coordinator of Protection and Democratic Participation at ARTICLE 19 Brazil, said: 

“For four years, Jair Bolsonaro and his supporters systematically discredited the Brazilian press, attacked marginalised groups, human rights and environmental defenders, and twisted the meaning of freedom of expression to justify harassment, misinformation and hate speech. ‍

“The 2022 election was a key turning point, as evidenced by this year’s Report. However, the country still faces a difficult future, as it works to reconstruct public policies related to protecting communicators and human rights defenders, make the media ecosystem more diverse and address structural reforms to combat monopoly abuse of economic and political power. Safety of rights defenders and journalists, safeguarding information integrity, development of digital public infrastructure and strengthening mechanisms of participation must be on the government’s agenda. ‍

‍“Brazil’s example gives us hope that change is possible. But it’s also a reminder that rights and freedoms must never be taken for granted - the work to guarantee, strengthen and improve rights must always continue.”