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Global internet freedoms deteriorated (again) in 2025 - Germany, Georgia & US
lost ground

Date:
Sat, 15 Nov 2025 06:00:00 +0000

Description:
According to Freedom House, the internet is more controlled and manipulated
than ever before. And democracies aren't immune.

FULL STORY

The internet is more controlled and manipulated today than ever before. 

That's the verdict from the annual Freedom of the Net report published on
November 13. It found that global internet freedoms have worsened for the 
15th consecutive year this year. 

While the decline of online anonymity is a huge concern, the control of 
online information has kept escalating as well. 

The process isn't exclusive to authoritarian nations, either. Nine of the 18
countries with an internet freedom status of 'Free' have lost ground, with 
the biggest declines seen in Georgia, Germany, and the US. 

In 2025, citizens worldwide were once again forced to find new ways to 
protect their digital rights. This has driven demand for tools like the best
VPNs and other censorship circumvention technologies.

A decline of democratic values

During the coverage period (June 2024-May 2025), the biggest decline in
internet freedoms 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 concerning trend, conditions in democracy suffered, and half of the 18
countries ranked free by Freedom on the Net experienced score declines. Only
two improved," confirmed Freedom House's Research Analyst for technology and
democracy, Grant Baker. 

 Georgia experienced the most significant decline of any country previously
rated as 'Free'. This downturn, Baker explains, followed the ruling party
enacting "repressive measures" targeting civil society and independent media
outlets in August 2024. 

Even more surprisingly, perhaps, Germany is the 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. Levels of self-censorship have also
increased across the country.

The United States recorded the next-biggest decline among countries ranked
'Free' this year, following Georgia and Germany. Experts detailed that the
Trump administration detained several foreign nationals for one to two months
after revoking their visas due to nonviolent online expression. 

"The online environment remained diverse and free, buoyed by protections
offered by the US Constitution's First Amendment. However, growing
restrictions on civic space threatened to stifle digital activism," said
Baker. 

While the setbacks among established democracies is troubling, the broader
picture is still defined by extreme digital repression in authoritarian
contexts. 

 China and Myanmar , for 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 controls. And they continue to develop new
techniques and technologies to advance their capabilities. 

However, experts also uncovered a growing: 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-like internet censorship system, and, according to Freedom House,
Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Belarus are also busy building
similar infrastructure. 

Given these trends, it's highly probable that we'll also record an increase 
in coordinated VPN censorship campaigns in these countries. 

======================================================================
Link to news story:
https://www.techradar.com/vpn/vpn-privacy-security/global-internet-freedoms-de
teriorated-again-in-2025-germany-georgia-and-us-lost-ground

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