Back
Freedom on the Net 2025: Uncertain Future of the Global Internet
webCredibility Rating
4/5
High(4)High quality. Established institution or organization with editorial oversight and accountability.
Rating inherited from publication venue: Freedom House
Relevant to AI safety governance discussions around how authoritarian AI deployment and internet fragmentation could undermine global coordination on AI safety norms and oversight mechanisms.
Metadata
Importance: 42/100organizational reportanalysis
Summary
Freedom House's annual Freedom on the Net 2025 report assesses the state of internet freedom globally, documenting trends in government censorship, surveillance, and the fragmentation of the open internet. The report highlights how authoritarian regimes leverage digital controls and how AI is increasingly being used as a tool of repression and information manipulation.
Key Points
- •Documents global decline in internet freedom, with authoritarian governments expanding censorship, surveillance, and platform manipulation.
- •Highlights the growing use of AI technologies by governments to monitor citizens, spread disinformation, and suppress dissent.
- •Examines internet fragmentation ('splinternet') trends where national firewalls and data localization laws undermine a unified global internet.
- •Covers how democratic governments are also grappling with balancing security, regulation, and free expression online.
- •Provides country-by-country ratings and case studies illustrating diverse threats to digital rights and open information access.
Cited by 2 pages
| Page | Type | Quality |
|---|---|---|
| AI-Enabled Authoritarian Takeover | Risk | 61.0 |
| AI Authoritarian Tools | Risk | 91.0 |
Cached Content Preview
HTTP 200Fetched Mar 20, 202664 KB
[Skip to main content](https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-net/2025/uncertain-future-global-internet#main-content)
[Accessibility](https://freedomhouse.org/accessibility)
Freedom on the Net
2025
# An Uncertain Future for the Global Internet
[Download PDF](https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/2025-12/FOTN%202025_final_digital_120525.pdf)
[](https://freedomhouse.org/#facebook "Facebook")[](https://freedomhouse.org/#twitter "Twitter")[](https://freedomhouse.org/#email "Email")
_The immediate future of internet freedom will depend on how governments deploy incentives for and controls over the next wave of technological innovation._
- Jump To:
- [Key Findings](https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-net/2025/uncertain-future-global-internet#key-findings)
- [Tracking the Global Decline](https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-net/2025/uncertain-future-global-internet#tracking-the-global-decline)
- [On the Horizon for Human Rights Online](https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-net/2025/uncertain-future-global-internet#on-the-horizon-for-human-rights-online)
Written by
Kian Vesteinsson
Grant Baker
## Key Findings
[**Global internet freedom declined for the 15th consecutive year.**](https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-net/2024/struggle-trust-online#the-struggle-for-trust-online) Of the 72 countries assessed in _Freedom on the Net 2025_, conditions deteriorated in 28, while 17 countries registered overall gains. [Kenya](https://freedomhouse.org/country/kenya/freedom-net/2025) experienced the most severe decline of the coverage period, after authorities responded to nationwide protests over tax policy in June 2024 by shutting down internet connectivity for around seven hours and arresting hundreds of protesters. [Bangladesh](https://freedomhouse.org/country/bangladesh/freedom-net/2025) earned the year’s strongest improvement, as a student-led uprising ousted the country’s repressive leadership in August 2024 and an interim government made positive reforms. [China](https://freedomhouse.org/country/china/freedom-net/2025) and [Myanmar](https://freedomhouse.org/country/myanmar/freedom-net/2025) remained the world’s worst environments for internet freedom, while [Iceland](https://freedomhouse.org/country/iceland/freedom-net/2025) held its place as the freest online environment.
[**Half of the 18 countries with an internet freedom status of Free suffered score declines during the coverage period.**](https://freedomhouse.
... (truncated, 64 KB total)Resource ID:
ca43bd687b47f6d3 | Stable ID: NmIyYjM4Ym