Freedom House

We publish news, analysis, and perspectives on issues at the intersection of tech and democracy.

Since we got started at Tech Policy Press, we've made it a priority every year to cover the findings of the annual Freedom on the Net report from Freedom House.

Freedom House is a nonprofit organization founded in 1941 to advance democracy and human rights.

This year, I was invited to moderate a discussion at a virtual event timed with the report's launch.

Before the panel, Freedom House's Kian Vestensen, one of the key authors of Freedom on the Net, gave a presentation on how the research works and what it found.

This year, we analyzed internet freedom in 38 countries, which covers about 71% of the world's internet users.

For each country, we assess how easily people can access the internet, whether the internet is censored, and how fundamental rights like free expression and privacy are restricted or protected.

As in Iran, many of these long-term restrictions were imposed during times of war or during brutal government crackdowns.

And we've been on all these international indexes in the retreat of democracy over the last 20 roughly years.

And the question always to me has been, when will we hit the nadir of that third wave recession and then begin the march upwards with a fourth wave? And I think, you know, while the data sets at the Varieties of Democracy Index in Sweden and the Economist Intelligence Unit are Freedom House have not marked this just yet because we're still living through it.

When you look at the defeat of the Law and Justice Party in Poland in 23, you look at the defeat of Viktor Orban in Hungary, you look at the stunning Houdini-like escape that Lula pulled out from a Bolsonaro return in Brazil recently and now last two weeks, in addition to the overthrow of the strongman in Serbia, democratically, and now the results in the United States.

And we'll see when this podcast posts what has happened in Israel, where it maybe, you know, could be the last days of Bibi Netanyahu's autocratic reign.

Some are even risking their lives to get their money back.

A report by the U.S.-based human rights group Freedom House recorded over 900 protests across China in the third quarter of 2026.

That's up 12 percent from the previous quarter.

Workers led the largest share, accounting for more than 40 percent of all protests.

They demanded he come out and pay their overdue wages.

In Shantou Guangdong province, nine construction workers climbed onto a steel frame atop a residential building, demanding back pay.

Freedom House's construction-related protests made up over 50% of worker protests.

Nearly four in 10 involved state-owned companies.

We can't do without the coordination we need from a state.

But the state invariably throughout history has become tyrannical, and it is threatening to do so again in our dwindling democracies i mentioned a few moments ago that that democracy is in trouble there is a association called freedom house which looks around the world at the state of democracy over time and it has found that over the past 20 years we have been in a democratic recession that is democracy has been declining in more countries in the world than increasing.

Democracy is falling.

And of course, I argue that the reason is exploding inequality.

They should fear democracy because essentially democracy permits the majority of people who are not elite and not rich to invoke to put in to power democratically and peacefully measures that will take the wealth privilege and income away from the elite or at least much of it away from them so the wealthier they get the greater their fear and what they will do is institute measures through their greater political power which they gain with their greater wealth institute measures that will reduce democracy.

And that is exactly what is happening.

Democracy, as we mentioned a few moments ago, according to Freedom House, is in recession.

It is declining around, pretty much around the world.

The second golden age was the late 20th century.

But organizations like The Economist and Freedom House that track these things have pointed out, and we've covered this around the world, that democracy has been in decline throughout the 21st century.

That even...

Us privileged folks in America do not anymore live in a fully functioning democracy.

I'm not expecting Democrats to win Florida.

It wouldn't surprise me at all if they win South Carolina.

There are also various U.S. House swing districts that will keep you apprised of in these states.

Right.