Internet Freedom in the Americas Remains Under Threat

WASHINGTON—Internet freedom remained under threat in the Americas in 2023, according to a new report released today by Freedom House.

The report—Freedom on the Net 2023: The Repressive Power of Artificial Intelligence—finds that in 7 of the 11 countries under review in the region—including Colombia, Ecuador, and Mexico—people were physically attacked or killed in connection with their online activities. The threat of physical violence disproportionately targeted online journalists. People in 6 countries—especially those living under repressive regimes in Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela—were arrested or faced criminal penalties to stifle their online expression.

Other findings on the Americas include: 

• Canada was the top-performing country in the region, scoring 88 points on Freedom on the Net’s 100-point scale. The country is rated Free.
• Costa Rica’s score declined by 3 points, as digital journalists faced escalated hostility and targeted harassment under the government of President Rodrigo Chaves Robles. The country is rated Free.
• Nicaragua’s score also declined by 3 points, spurred by deepening repression under President Daniel Ortega. The country has declined by 6 points since it was first assessed in Freedom on the Net 2021, and is rated Partly Free.
• Only two countries in the region—Cuba and Venezuela—are rated Not Free. Cuba remained the fourth-most repressive environment in the world for internet freedom.  
• Authorities in 6 of 11 countries attempted to manipulate online discussions using progovernment trolls or other disinformation tactics, polluting the online sphere with biased or false information.
• Argentina recorded the region’s largest improvement of 2 points, driven in part by a Supreme Court ruling that protected the right to access information in the public interest online.
• Internet freedom remained steady in the United States, which ranked eighth in the world with a score of 76 points.
• Four countries in the region saw their scores increase (Argentina, Canada, Colombia, and Mexico), while four experienced score declines (Brazil, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Venezuela). The largest declines (-3) were in Nicaragua and Costa Rica.
• The report also found that while advances in artificial intelligence (AI) offer benefits for society, they have been used to increase the scale and efficiency of digital repression. Governments are leveraging automated systems to strengthen their information controls and hone forms of online censorship. Simultaneously, distributors of disinformation have turned to AI tools to fabricate images, audio, and text, further blurring the lines between reality and deception.

Beyond the Americas, Freedom on the Net 2023 finds that global internet freedom declined for the 13th consecutive year. The environment for human rights online deteriorated in 29 countries, while only 20 countries registered net gains. In 53 countries, people faced legal repercussions for expressing themselves online, while people were physically assaulted or killed for their online commentary in a record 43 countries.

Freedom on the Net is an annual study of human rights in the digital sphere. The project assesses internet freedom in 70 countries, accounting for almost 89 percent of the world’s internet users. This report, the 13th in its series, covered developments between June 1, 2022 and May 31, 2023. More than 85 analysts and advisers contributed to this year’s edition, using a standard methodology to determine each country’s internet freedom score on a 100-point scale, with 21 separate indicators pertaining to obstacles to access, limits on content, and violations of user rights. 

Click here to read the full report and policy recommendations. Click here to read additional report press releases: Global, Africa, Asia-Pacific, Eurasia, Europe, Middle East. 

To schedule an interview with Freedom House experts, please contact Maryam Iftikhar at [email protected] or (202) 747-7064. 

Freedom House is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that works to create a world where all are free. We inform the world about threats to freedom, mobilize global action, and support democracy’s defenders.