The COVID-19 pandemic has fuelled a crisis for democracy around the world. Since the coronavirus outbreak began, the condition of democracy and human rights has grown worse in 80 countries. Governments have responded by engaging in abuses of power, silencing their critics, and weakening or shuttering important institutions, often undermining the very systems of accountability needed to protect public health.

This is the conclusion of new Freedom House research on the impact of COVID-19 on democracy and human rights, produced in partnership with the survey firm GQR. Based on a survey of 398 journalists, civil society workers, activists, and other experts as well as research on 192 countries by Freedom House’s global network of analysts, this report is the first of its kind and the most in-depth effort to date to examine the condition of democracy during the pandemic (see full methodology).

The research strongly supports the hypothesis that the COVID-19 pandemic is exacerbating the 14 years of consecutive decline in freedom. Not only has democracy weakened in 80 countries, but the problem is particularly acute in struggling democracies and highly repressive states—in other words, settings that already had weak safeguards against abuse of power are suffering the most. The findings illustrate the breadth and depth of the assault on democracy.

Key policy recommendations:

• Ensure that emergency measures are accountable, proportionate, and time-restricted
• Provide technical support and training for online work
• Ensure that free and independent media can thrive, and people have access to fact-based information
• Support free and fair elections that respect public health
• Provide emergency funding that allows democracy and human rights organisations to continue daily work
• Identify human rights abuses, condemn them when they occur, and hold perpetrators to account
• Combat corruption in pandemic response efforts