Seismic Shifts on the Global Internet FREEDOM ON THE NET 2026 INTERNET FREEDOM UNDER PRESSURE IN DEMOCRACIES Internet Freedom Under Pressure in Democracies People in the world’s democracies long enjoyed conditions freedomfor online. In the past 15 years, however, People in the world’shave democracies have robust long enjoyed robustfor conditions freedom online. conditions in some countries have15deteriorated. In the past years, however, conditions in some countries have deteriorated. 2012 INTERNET FREEDOM SCORE IN GIVEN YEAR UNITED STATES 90 89 ESTONIA 88 87 86 AUSTRALIA 85 84 GERMANY 83 HUNGARY 82 81 AUSTRALIA 2026 75 UNITED STATES 74 FRANCE 73 72 SOUTH AFRICA 71 UNITED KINGDOM Country coverage varied between Freedom on the Net 2012 and Country coverage between Freedom the Net 2012 and Freedom on varied the Net 2026. For on information about past editions, Freedom on the Net 2026. For information about past editions, please https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-net. please visitvisit https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-net. HUNGARY 70 ARMENIA 69 ARGENTINA This infographic is from the Freedom on the Net 2026 report by freedomhouse.org The United States scored 73 out of a possible 100 points in Freedom on the Net 2026. While the score did not change this year, restrictions on civic space that drove a three-point decline in the previous edition have persisted. Federal authorities continued to exert pressure on digital activism and other online speech expressing criticism of the government. For example, federal law enforcement carried out extensive surveillance of online activists mobilizing in response to the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Minnesota, and prosecuted online journalists who reported on those protests. US officials continued to enforce steeper penalties on people for their online activities than in previous years. In one case, Tennessee police arrested and jailed a man for 37 days after he posted a meme on Facebook that made light of the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. The government advanced some positive efforts to address online harms. In May 2026, content-removal provisions of the TAKE IT DOWN Act entered into effect. The law, which President Donald Trump signed the previous year, criminalized the nonconsensual distribution of intimate images, an important step to combatting online sexual abuse. However, the law’s content-removal framework was broadly framed in a way that civil society organizations argued may be prone to abuse, particularly its lack of safeguards against false reports. 10 @freedomhouse #FreedomOnTheNet