FREEDOM ON THE NET 2026 Seismic Shifts on the Global Internet A Russian Interior Ministry officer takes a photo of an activist protesting against a new censorship law near the State Duma in July 2025. Russian authorities expanded censorship powers during the coverage period. (Photo: Yulia Morozova via Reuters) Other governments introduced new efforts to disconnect people from the global internet. In Kyrgyzstan, where authorities have increasingly persecuted independent media, President Sadyr Japarov enacted a novel measure granting a state-run ISP a monopoly on international internet traffic. Under a July 2025 presidential decree, all service providers The global internet offers a precious space for people living under authoritarian repression to access independent information and express themselves freely. 6 @freedomhouse in the country were required to route international internet traffic to the telecommunications company ElKat, which Kyrgyzstani authorities had nationalized earlier that month. The ability to force all traffic through a state-controlled entity effectively enables the authorities to surveil and censor with ease. While the original decree specified that this “temporary monopoly” would last for a one-year period starting in August 2025, authorities proposed extending it at the end of that term, in August 2026. As authoritarians pursue internet fragmentation as a method of political control, the global internet offers a precious space for people living under repression to access independent information and express themselves freely. In these contexts, technology that enables people to sidestep government censorship becomes a lifeline. Investments in anticensorship innovation and service delivery are sorely needed to ensure that that lifeline reaches those who need it most. #FreedomOnTheNet