FREEDOM ON
THE NET 2024
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Key Findings.....................................................................................................
1
Freedom on the Net 2024: The Struggle for Trust Online...........................
2
Controlling information to tilt an election................................................
7
Developing remedies that protect internet freedom..............................
14
Policy Recommendations................................................................................
28
What We Measure...........................................................................................
34
Checklist of Questions....................................................................................
35
Acknowledgements and Sources...................................................................
41
TABLES, CHARTS, AND GRAPHICS
Global Internet Population by 2024 FOTN Status.........................................
Global Internet User Stats..................................................................................
The Global Assault On Free Expression...........................................................
Warping the Internet ahead of the Vote .........................................................
Generative AI at the Ballot Box .........................................................................
Principles for Strengthening Information Integrity......................................
Building Trust Online ..........................................................................................
Key Internet Controls by Country.....................................................................
Freedom on the Net 2024 Map..........................................................................
Global Rankings.....................................................................................................
Regional Rankings.................................................................................................
2
3
5
9
11
15
19
21
22
24
26
This report was made possible by the generous support of the Dutch Ministry
of Foreign Affairs, The Dutch Postcode Lottery, Google, Internet Society,
The New York Community Trust, the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Democracy,
Human Rights, and Labor (DRL), and Verizon.
The following people were instrumental in the research and writing of this report:
Aashna Agarwal, Matthew Barak, Jennifer Brody, Cathryn Grothe, Mina Loldj,
Maddie Masinsin, and Elizabeth Sutterlin. Amelia Larson, David Meijer,
Shannon O’Toole, Tyler Roylance, and Lora Uhlig edited the report.
Freedom House is committed to editorial independence and is solely responsible
for this report’s content.
This booklet is a summary of findings for the 2024 edition of Freedom on the Net.
Narrative reports on the 72 countries assessed in this study can be found on our
website at freedomonthenet.org.
ON THE COVER
Illustration by Mitch Blunt