The COVID-19 pandemic has fuelled a crisis for democracy around the world. 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 provides an in-depth examination the condition of democracy during the pandemic.

Freedom House has found that 2019 was the 14th consecutive year of decline in global freedom. The gap between setbacks and gains widened compared with 2018, as individuals in 64 countries experienced deterioration in their political rights and civil liberties while those in just 37 experienced improvements.

Freedom on the Net is a comprehensive study of internet freedom in 65 countries around the globe, covering 87 percent of the world’s internet users. It tracks improvements and declines in internet freedom conditions each year. The countries included in the study have been selected to represent diverse geographical regions and regime types.

Millions of people in Hong Kong are protesting democratic deterioration and rights violations, amid increasing police brutality and other violence against them. This paper argues that the United States and other democracies must take strong, immediate action to stand with the people of Hong Kong in their defense of democratic values.

This report describes and analyses the approaches that African governments are taking to impose restrictions that handicap NGO activity on the continent.