Students of Diaspora and the Fight for Justice online discussion This webinar will bring together scholars of diaspora and activism to examine how international, immigrant, and migrant students in the U.S. have organized against repression, especially in the contex...

Tomorrow: Freedom House’s @ygorokho.bsky.social joins @ihrc-umn.bsky.social for a discussion on how international, immigrant, and migrant students in the U.S. have organized against repression. Join the webinar: cla.umn.edu/ihrc/news-ev...

NEW JOINT STATEMENT: Freedom House proudly joins leading organizations and experts in calling for renewed global solidarity in support of the people of #Iran. freedomhouse.org/article/iran...

Read the latest Spotlight🔆on Freedom:

📝NEW REPORT: Tracking Transnational Repression in 2025
🗪 How Chinese Authorities Attempted to Silence a Uyghur Scholar and Rights Advocate
🗓️ EVENT: Freedom House Annual Awards and 85th Anniversary

More: bit.ly/4cg1JN3
Subscribe: bit.ly/Subscribe_FHnewsletter

Collaboration and Resistance: Tracking Transnational Repression in 2025

NEW REPORT: Authoritarian collaboration fueled #transnationalrepression in 2025, with at least 30 governments reaching beyond their borders—using tactics from assassinations to detentions—to intimidate or otherwise silence their critics. Read the full report: freedomhouse.org/report/speci...

Q&A: Persecuted for Her Work in Turkey, Journalist Sofya Alagaş Won’t Be Silenced

“If we give up fighting, we give up existing. I wish all women, journalists, and everyone a life worthy of human dignity.” Read more from journalist Sofya Alagaş, who spent a year in Turkish prison for her reporting: freedomhouse.org/article/qa-p...

Religious Freedom Cannot Survive Without Democracy Freedom of religion or belief is a fundamental human right that protects the practice of any or no religion. It ensures government neutrality, prohibits state-sponsored religion, and is essential for ...

Freedom of religion is an essential component of a free society. Protecting this fundamental freedom requires more than recognition under the law: it demands strong democratic institutions, indep. judiciaries, accountable governance, & a vibrant civil society. Read: freedomhouse.org/article/reli...

Kurdish journalist & politician Sofya Alagaş recently spoke to Freedom House about the state of journalism in Turkey & the issues facing Kurdish journalists. Alagaş herself spent a year in prison for her reporting & is currently living under a travel ban. Read more: freedomhouse.org/article/qa-p...

Our recommendations from #FreedomInTheWorld 2026: freedomhouse.org/report/repor...

International support for democratic institutions, civil society, and independent media has been associated with modest but meaningful improvements in democratic governance, and it is far less costly than the military outlays necessitated by rising authoritarian aggression.

Democratic resilience will increasingly depend on stronger coordination among countries that share a commitment to freedom, the rule of law, and accountable governance

Read our recommendations from #FreedomInTheWorld 2026: freedomhouse.org/report/repor...

Religious Freedom Cannot Survive Without Democracy Freedom of religion or belief is a fundamental human right that protects the practice of any or no religion. It ensures government neutrality, prohibits state-sponsored religion, and is essential for preventing persecution, allowing diverse beliefs to coexist.

Across the globe, threats to religious freedom are growing where democratic institutions are weakening. Read the latest analysis from Freedom House on why democracy is foundational to the protection of religious belief: freedomhouse.org/article/reli...

Join us on May 20 as we mark our 85th anniversary by honoring outstanding leaders who have demonstrated commitment to advancing freedom & democracy. This year we will honor Hong Kong media publisher & pro-democracy advocate Jimmy Lai with the Freedom Award. www.freedomhouse85th.org/2026awards/1...

Read the latest Spotlight🔆on Freedom:

🗪 Q&A: Persecuted for Her Work in Turkey, Journalist Sofya Alagaş Won’t Be Silenced
🗓️ EVENT: Freedom House 2026 Annual Awards and 85th Anniversary

More: bit.ly/4vpoIwP
Subscribe: bit.ly/Subscribe_FHnewsletter

The Growing Shadow of Autocracy Global freedom declined for the 20th consecutive year in 2025. But even in this especially challenging moment, there are reasons for optimism.

Policymakers, practitioners, and partners must come together to address the persistent decline in global freedom.

New analysis from our new #FreedomInTheWorld report offers several steps they can take to combat repression worldwide.

freedomhouse.org/report/freed...

Although the past 20 years were marked by many significant events, 4 common factors drove the largest declines in freedom: armed conflicts, coups, erosion of democratic institutions, & crackdowns on rights by authoritarian leaders.

More from #FreedomInTheWorld 2026: freedomhouse.org/report/freed...

The three fundamental freedoms that sustained the most damage over the past two decades were media freedom, freedom of personal expression, and due process.

More from #FreedomInTheWorld 2026: freedomhouse.org/report/freed...

"Lasting peace & stability in Iran & across the Middle East will depend on whether the Iranian people are empowered to establish a government that reflects their will & answers to them.” More from actor & human rights advocate Nazanin Boniadi

Watch the full event: www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEpn...

Over the last two decades, 19 Partly Free countries have dropped to Not Free, swelling the ranks of the world’s autocracies, which have become more repressive at home and more aggressive abroad. More from #FreedomInTheWorld 2026: freedomhouse.org/report/freed...

How to Make Targeted Sanctions Work Targeted financial sanctions are a powerful tool to place pressure on authoritarian regimes—but they only work when they can be enforced.

Targeted financial sanctions are among the few impactful tools available to democratic governments for holding authoritarian regimes accountable for their abuses, but they only work when they can be enforced. Read more from Masha Donnelly. freedomhouse.org/article/how-...

Transnational Repression The latest from Freedom House on how human rights activists, dissidents, and their families face a worldwide pattern of violence and intimidation perpetrated by the authoritarian regimes they hoped to...

On April 16, Freedom House will release brand new data on #transnationalrepression. Our comprehensive dataset includes over a thousand incidents that have happened around the world between 2014 and 2025.

Read more about our work on transnational repression: freedomhouse.org/report/trans...

40 percent of the world’s population live in a country that experienced a decline in political rights and civil liberties in 2025, while only seven percent live in a country that experienced an improvement.

More from #FreedomInTheWorld 2026: freedomhouse.org/report/freed...

Issue 11: October – December 2025

Did you miss it? The eleventh edition of our China Dissent Monitor added 1,363 cases to our database for a total of 14,347 dissent events recorded since June 2022.

What we’ve learned: freedomhouse.org/report/china...

After 20 consecutive years of deterioration, human rights defenders, civil society organizations, and democratic governments must respond with urgency and resolve, and new champions of freedom must step forward.

More from #FreedomInTheWorld 2026: freedomhouse.org/report/freed...

🟩STATUS CHANGE: Our 2026 #FreedomInTheWorld report upgraded Malawi from Partly Free to Free.

More details: freedomhouse.org/report/freed...

Last year marked the 20th consecutive year of decline in global freedom. What can be done to turn it around? Read more from Jamie Fly and Yana Gorokhovskaia in the Washington Post www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

🟩STATUS CHANGE: Our 2026 #FreedomInTheWorld report upgraded Fiji from Partly Free to Free.

More details: freedomhouse.org/report/freed...

🟩STATUS CHANGE: Our 2026 #FreedomInTheWorld report upgraded Bolivia from Partly Free to Free.

More details: freedomhouse.org/report/freed...

The Growing Shadow of Autocracy Global freedom declined for the 20th consecutive year in 2025. But even in this especially challenging moment, there are reasons for optimism.

More data: freedomhouse.org/report/freed...

Where do people experience the best & worst environments for political rights & civil liberties according to #FreedomInTheWorld 2026?

🟩 Best:
Finland (100/100)
Sweden (99/100)
Norway (99/100)
New Zealand (99/100)

🟪 Worst:
South Sudan (0/100)
Sudan (1/100)
Turkmenistan (1/100)

Iran’s Internet Blackout and the Authoritarian Playbook America remains the world’s preeminent technology power. It’s time to finally deploy our national capabilities to take back information dominance from the authoritarians.

“If citizens living under authoritarianism were able to access independent information, it would put the dictators on the defensive.” Read the latest from Jamie Fly on #Iran
freedomhouse.org/article/iran...