FREEDOM ON THE NET 2026 Seismic Shifts on the Global Internet Policy Recommendations The fight for democracy in the digital age faces new threats as authoritarians cut their populations off from the global network and as AI technology advances. Democratic governments and the private sector should advance the defense of human rights in the digital age by undermining authoritarian internet restrictions and safeguarding privacy online. UNDERMINE AUTHORITARIAN INTERNET RESTRICTIONS Access to the internet is under threat as authoritarian powers continue to create barriers for people to freely express themselves online. Internet shutdowns, throttling, and platform blocking remain among the most common tools of digital repression. At the same time, digital technologies serve as a lifeline for people seeking to expose human rights violations to the outside world and hold dictators accountable. Combat internet shutdowns. Internet shutdowns are a favored tool of digital repression, deployed by governments during elections, protests, and periods of unrest to suppress dissent and cut off access to the outside world, often with devastating and long-lasting economic and humanitarian consequences. • Internet service providers should publicly disclose the shutdown orders they receive and commit to challenging orders they consider disproportionate or unlawful. • Independent watchdogs should sustain real-time shutdown documentation and rapid-alert initiatives, such as via the #KeepItOn coalition, which tracks and verifies shutdowns worldwide and provides evidence that civil society, journalists, and international bodies rely on to hold governments accountable. To this end, it is imperative that donors continue to support these ongoing efforts. Support access to satellite internet technologies. These technologies provide a means to circumvent government restrictions on internet access. Supporting access to these technologies takes many forms, including technical investment and diplomatic pressure. • Governments should conduct feasibility studies to assess the effectiveness and potential vulnerabilities of nascent Direct-toCellular (D2C) satellite internet technologies. They should also evaluate how to safely disseminate the technology and mitigate its exorbitant cost, which may pose barriers to access for human rights defenders on the ground. • Governments should advocate for access to emergency satellite internet connectivity at the ITU World Radiocommunication Conference in 2027. • The satellite industry should work closely with civil society to advocate for policies that de-risk satellite internet services, helping ensure that satellite internet providers can continue operating in repressive contexts. Fund context-specific anticensorship tools. Since the means of censorship vary across different authoritarian regimes, it is necessary to invest in tools that respond to the unique environments in which human rights defenders and journalists are seeking to access the internet. • The US government should ensure robust funding for the Open Technology Fund, which supports the development of anticensorship tools tailored to human rights defenders and journalists around the world. • Providers of anticensorship tools should co-develop circumvention tool kits with local civil society organizations as governments introduce new blocking techniques. Protect against VPN compromise. Virtual private networks (VPNs) provide essential privacy and security services to people around the world and make it possible for those in repressive contexts to safely access the open internet. 24 @freedomhouse #FreedomOnTheNet