The research strongly supports the hypothesis that the COVID-19 pandemic is exacerbating the 14 years of consecutive decline in freedom. 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). 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. 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. Since the coronavirus outbreak began, the condition of democracy and human rights has grown worse in 80 countries. The views and opinion expressed in this site are purely those of the individual writers and contributors to the site and do not specifically reflect the thinking and views of the RQ editorial staff.The COVID-19 pandemic has fuelled a crisis for democracy around the world. The basic desire for democratic liberties, including access to honest and fact-based journalism, can never be extinguished, and it is never too late to renew the demand that these rights be granted in full.Ħ17 pages of information and entertainment in 21 sections - 3701 posts. If democratic powers cease to support media independence at home and impose no consequences for its restriction abroad, the free press corps could be in danger of virtual extinction.Įxperience has shown, however, that press freedom can rebound from even lengthy stints of repression when given the opportunity. The trend is most acute in Europe, previously a bastion of well-established freedoms, and in Eurasia and the Middle East, where many of the world’s worst dictatorships are concentrated. The trend is linked to a global decline in democracy itself: The erosion of press freedom is both a symptom of and a contributor to the breakdown of other democratic institutions and principles, a fact that makes it especially alarming.Īccording to Freedom House’s Freedom in the World data, media freedom has been deteriorating around the world over the past decade, with new forms of repression taking hold in open societies and authoritarian states alike. Elected leaders in many democracies, who should be press freedom’s staunchest defenders, have made explicit attempts to silence critical media voices and strengthen outlets that serve up favorable coverage. The fundamental right to seek and disseminate information through an independent press is under attack, and part of the assault has come from an unexpected source. The basic desire for democratic liberties, including access to honest and fact-based journalism, can never be extinguished. – Experience has shown, however, that press freedom can rebound from even lengthy stints of repression when given the opportunity. – While the threats to global media freedom are real and concerning in their own right, their impact on the state of democracy is what makes them truly dangerous. – In some of the most influential democracies in the world, populist leaders have overseen concerted attempts to throttle the independence of the media sector. – Freedom of the media has been deteriorating around the world over the past decade.
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