- Internet freedom has decreased in 2025 for the 15th year in a row
- Half of the 18 countries ranked as ‘free’ have experienced a decline
- Authoritarian governments export censorship tactics
The Internet is more controlled and manipulated today than ever before.
This is the verdict from the annual Freedom of the Net report published on 13 November. It showed that global internet freedom has worsened for the 15th consecutive year this year.
Nor is the process exclusive to authoritarian nations. Nine of the 18 countries with a “Free” internet freedom status have lost ground, with the biggest declines seen in Georgia, Germany and the United States.
In 2025, citizens worldwide were once again forced to find new ways to protect their digital rights. This has driven the demand for tools like the best VPNs and other censorship bypass technologies.
A decline of democratic values
In the coverage period (June 2024-May 2025), the largest decrease in internet freedom occurred in Kenya. In June, the government carried out a violent crackdown on nationwide protests, shutting down the internet for the first time in the country’s history.
This was indicative of a wider trend that continued across several other democracies.
“In a worrying trend, conditions in democracy suffered, with half of the 18 countries ranked free by Freedom on the Net experiencing a decline. Only two improved,” confirmed Freedom House’s technology and democracy research analyst Grant Baker.
Georgia experienced the most significant decline of any country previously classified as “free”. This downturn, Baker explains, followed the ruling party adopting “repressive measures” targeting civil society and independent media in August 2024.
Even more surprising, perhaps, Germany is next on this list. Since February, the new government has “pursued criminal prosecutions against people who made memes about politicians, invoking laws against insult and hate speech,” Freedom House noted. The level of self-censorship has also increased across the country.
📣NEW: #FreedomOnTheNet 2025 is now LIVE! of mass protests, deepening censorship and threats to free speech fueled the 15th consecutive year of decline in global internet freedom. Conditions for online rights worsened in 27 of the 72… pic.twitter.com/5AfPH49wgn13 November 2025
The USA recorded the second biggest drop among countries ranked ‘Free’ this year, after Georgia and Germany. Experts detailed that the Trump administration detained several foreign nationals for one to two months after revoking their visas over non-violent online expressions.
“The online environment remained diverse and free, underpinned by the protections of the US Constitution’s First Amendment. But growing restrictions on civil space threatened to stifle digital activism,” Baker said.
While the setbacks among established democracies are worrying, the broader picture is still defined by extreme digital repression in authoritarian contexts.
China and Myanmarfor example, still sit at the bottom of the rankings, while Iceland held its 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 techniques and technologies to advance their capabilities.
However, experts also revealed a growth: the deliberate, cross-border spread of censorship technology and repressive tactics among like-minded governments.
As we previously reported, China is helping Pakistan build a Great Firewall-style internet censorship system, 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.
