The decline in freedom of expression around the world must stop

Internet shutdowns. Strategic prosecutions against journalists. Regulations limiting the activities of NGOs. The militarization of health and safety policies. These are all strategies that governments around the world are increasingly using to restrict the right to dissent, protest, and even just access to information.

The data is clear: 80% of the world's population lives with less freedom of expression than a decade ago, according to this year's Global Expression Report, which I co-authored with statistician Nicole Steward-Streng. The report is published annually by Article 19, an NGO that promotes freedom of expression around the world.

Our research this year shows that only 7% of people live in a country where free speech has improved over the past decade, and more than a third (or 2.6 billion people ) live in countries where it is in crisis.

Last year, Myanmar and Afghanistan saw the biggest declines ever in freedom of expression. This followed a military coup in the former and the Taliban's return to power after two decades of insurgency in the latter. In both cases, the new regimes severely limited freedom of the press, social space for activism, and access to information.

Although the scores haven't been tallied since Russia invaded Ukraine in late February, both countries are set to experience similar plunges this year: Armed conflict is a disaster for free speech - without exception.

While these dramatic events naturally grab headlines, less attention is paid to the slow decline of free speech over time.

Armed conflicts are a disaster for freedom of expression – without exception.

Free speech and democracy are intertwined, and both are deteriorating globally. State restrictions on free speech are a clear sign that a government is turning away from its people. And once the voices are silenced, autocracy is easy work.

The slow decline in freedom of expression is most marked in the Americas, where countries such as Colombia, El Salvador and Brazil have seen sustained declines over time as institutions have eroded and that the enabling environment for organizing, civic action and dissent has been tightened. Hungary and Poland also saw a steady deterioration in their scores.

These types of decline may happen more slowly, without violence or upheaval, but they can be just as severe for the people experiencing them.

Varieties of Democracy, or VDem, is a research initiative that uses hundreds of indicators to measure the strength of a given democracy. Their data shows us that attacks on free speech are often the first step in democratic backsliding, and are frequently followed by the erosion of democratic institutions and then the weakening of elections.

The downward trajectory often begins with restrictions on the press, internet censorship, crackdowns on protests, or killing activists without accountability. Once on this path, the destination is clear: democratic decline.

The career of Russian President Vladimir Putin provides a clear example of progression from decline. Since taking office in 2000, Putin has eroded the space for public debate in Russia. It has gone from dismantling independent media and establishing discursive control to eroding government institutions, centralizing power and ensuring its permanence in leadership via a referendum and elections whose results were largely predetermined.

Putin's efforts have been replicated on a smaller scale across the world: the level of democracy enjoyed by the average citizen in the world in 2021 has regressed to 1989 levels: 70% of the world's population...