The 2024 Global Expression Report (GER), published by the free speech organization Article 19, reveals troubling insights into the state of freedom of expression worldwide. The Report shows a worrying reality that over half of the global population is currently living amidst a freedom of expression crisis. The numbers present a bleak landscape – an estimated 53 percent of the world’s population, aggregating to around 4 billion individuals, were unable to express themselves freely as of 2023.
Owing to a significant drop in their freedom of expression scores, India and Ethiopia, in particular, have been spotlighted in the report. India, which has seen a 35-point freedom of expression drop over the past decade, was officially designated as a country in crisis. Reporters Without Borders has described India’s media as being in an ‘unofficial state of emergency’, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has fostered a close relationship between his political party, the BJP, and the families dominating the media. This development was also pointedly remarked upon by political scientist Somdeep Sen from Roskilde University in Denmark in an interview to NPR. Ethiopia has likewise descended from the category of ‘highly restricted’ to a ‘crisis’ state according to Article 19’s report.
The GER illustrates a grim global trend – since 2000, forty-six countries have experienced a negative shift in freedom of expression. Nevertheless, amidst this downturn, certain nations have demonstrated significant growth towards freer expression. These include Brazil, Thailand, Niger, Fiji, and Sri Lanka. Brazil, in particular, made a substantial positive surge, with a 25-point leap over the past year. This has led to Brazil’s expression situation being considered open, even as its government has been actively combating misinformation and anti-democratic speech.
Regardless of these improvements in certain jurisdictions, current data indicates that only 23 percent of the global population can count themselves as living under open or less restricted conditions of expression.
As per the methodology of the GER, it uses 25 indicators to analyze the right to free expression and information worldwide across 161 of the world’s 195 countries. The countries are then categorised on a scale of 1-100 (with 100 pegged as the most open), into one of five categories: open, less restricted, restricted, highly restricted or crisis. The ‘crisis’ level reflects a freedom of expression scoring between 0-19 whereas the ‘open’ level ranges from 80-100.
For more information on the 2024 Global Expression Report, click here.