Chile
Free
87
100
| A Obstacles to Access | 24 25 |
| B Limits on Content | 32 35 |
| C Violations of User Rights | 31 40 |
Last Year's Score & Status
86
100
Free
Scores are based on a scale of 0 (least free) to 100 (most free).
See the methodology and report acknowledgements.
Chile has one of the world’s most open online environments, bolstered by strong protections for free expression and widespread access to the internet. While authorities do not censor political, social, or religious online content, journalists sometimes face criminal complaints in response to their investigative or other sensitive work. The risk of lawsuits, harassment, and surveillance can encourage self-censorship online. Authorities have worked to strengthen legal safeguards for data protection in recent years.
- In February 2025, a power outage reportedly impacted 98.5 percent of the country, impeding access to the internet. Internet traffic levels recovered about 12 hours after the outage (A1).1
- In July 2024, the National Digital Plan established internet access as a telecommunications public service, obligated internet service providers (ISPs) to provide internet service where requested, and mandated that telecommunications companies share a classified list of customer complaints with the Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications every six months (A1, A2, A4, and C6).2
- In February 2025, President Gabriel Boric signed Law 21732, overhauling Chile’s antiterrorism law3 in an effort to strengthen law enforcement officials’ ability to investigate and prosecute terrorist crimes. Critics of the law said it contained vague language, including in defining “terrorism,” and that it could be used to penalize political dissent (C2, C5).4
- In August 2024, Congress passed the Personal Data Protection Act, though it will not enter into force until two years after its publication in December 2024. The law creates a new Personal Data Protection Agency and aligns Chile’s data-protection standards with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), instituting several key rights for data holders (C6).5
- 1David Belson, “New year, no shutdowns: the Q1 2025 internet disruption summary,” The Cloudflare Blog, April 22, 2025, https://blog.cloudflare.com/q1-2025-internet-disruption-summary.
- 2“Ley N° 21.678 [Law Number 21.678],” Official Diary of the Republic of Chile [Diario Oficial de la República de Chile], July 3, 2024, https://colegioabogados.cl/ley-n-21-678-diario-oficial-electronicomierc….
- 3“To determine terrorist conduct, set its penalty, and repeal law Number 18.314 [Determina conductas terroristas, fija su penalidad, y deroga la ley No. 18.314],” Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional de Chile [Chile’s National Congressional Library], February 12, 2025, https://www.bcn.cl/leychile/navegar?i=1211036&t=0.
- 4Miguel Flores, “State surveillance: The risks of IMSI catchers [Vigilancia estatal: Los riesgos de los IMSI catchers],” Derechos Digitales, January 17, 2025, https://www.derechosdigitales.org/recursos/vigilancia-estatal-los-riesg…; “Chile: February 2025,” International IDEA, February 2025, https://www.idea.int/democracytracker/report/chile/february-2025.
- 5“To regulate the protection and treatment of personal data and create the personal data protection agency [Regula la protección y el tratamiento de los datos personales y crea la agencia de protección de datos personales],” Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional de Chile [Chile’s National Congressional Library], December 13, 2024, https://www.bcn.cl/leychile/navegar?idNorma=1209272.
Chile is a stable democracy that has experienced a significant expansion of political rights and civil liberties since the return of civilian rule in 1990. Ongoing concerns include corruption, and unrest linked to land disputes with Indigenous Mapuche people.
This report has been abridged for Freedom on the Net 2025 due to ongoing budget constraints. Please consider making a donation to support future editions of this vital resource.
For additional background information, see last year’s full report.
A1
1.00-6.00 pts0-6 pts
| Do infrastructural limitations restrict access to the internet or the speed and quality of internet connections? | 6.006 6.006 |
A2
1.00-3.00 pts0-3 pts
| Is access to the internet prohibitively expensive or beyond the reach of certain segments of the population for geographical, social, or other reasons? | 3.003 3.003 |
A3
1.00-6.00 pts0-6 pts
| Does the government exercise technical or legal control over internet infrastructure for the purposes of restricting connectivity? | 6.006 6.006 |
A4
1.00-6.00 pts0-6 pts
| Are there legal, regulatory, or economic obstacles that restrict the diversity of service providers? | 5.005 6.006 |
A5
1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
| Do national regulatory bodies that oversee service providers and digital technology fail to operate in a free, fair, and independent manner? | 4.004 4.004 |
B1
1.00-6.00 pts0-6 pts
| Does the state block or filter, or compel service providers to block or filter, internet content, particularly material that is protected by international human rights standards? | 5.005 6.006 |
B2
1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
| Do state or nonstate actors employ legal, administrative, or other means to force publishers, content hosts, or digital platforms to delete content, particularly material that is protected by international human rights standards? | 3.003 4.004 |
B3
1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
| Do restrictions on the internet and digital content lack transparency, proportionality to the stated aims, or an independent appeals process? | 4.004 4.004 |
B4
1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
| Do online journalists, commentators, and ordinary users practice self-censorship? | 3.003 4.004 |
B5
1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
| Are online sources of information controlled or manipulated by the government or other powerful actors to advance a particular political interest? | 4.004 4.004 |
B6
1.00-3.00 pts0-3 pts
| Are there economic or regulatory constraints that negatively affect users’ ability to publish content online? | 3.003 3.003 |
B7
1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
| Does the online information landscape lack diversity and reliability? | 4.004 4.004 |
B8
1.00-6.00 pts0-6 pts
| Do conditions impede users’ ability to mobilize, form communities, and campaign, particularly on political and social issues? | 6.006 6.006 |
C1
1.00-6.00 pts0-6 pts
| Do the constitution or other laws fail to protect rights such as freedom of expression, access to information, and press freedom, including on the internet, and are they enforced by a judiciary that lacks independence? | 5.005 6.006 |
C2
1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
| Are there laws that assign criminal penalties or civil liability for online activities, particularly those that are protected under international human rights standards? | 2.002 4.004 |
C3
1.00-6.00 pts0-6 pts
| Are individuals penalized for online activities, particularly those that are protected under international human rights standards? | 6.006 6.006 |
Score Change: The score improved from 5 to 6 because fewer individuals were penalized for legitimate online activities.
C4
1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
| Does the government place restrictions on anonymous communication or encryption? | 4.004 4.004 |
C5
1.00-6.00 pts0-6 pts
| Does state surveillance of internet activities infringe on users’ right to privacy? | 4.004 6.006 |
C6
1.00-6.00 pts0-6 pts
| Does monitoring and collection of user data by service providers and other technology companies infringe on users’ right to privacy? | 4.004 6.006 |
C7
1.00-5.00 pts0-5 pts
| Are individuals subject to extralegal intimidation or physical violence by state authorities or any other actor in relation to their online activities? | 4.004 5.005 |
C8
1.00-3.00 pts0-3 pts
| Are websites, governmental and private entities, service providers, or individual users subject to widespread hacking and other forms of cyberattack? | 2.002 3.003 |
Country Facts
-
Population
19,600,000 -
Global Freedom Score
95 100 free -
Internet Freedom Score
87 100 free -
Freedom in the World Status
Free -
Networks Restricted
No -
Websites Blocked
No -
Pro-government Commentators
No -
Users Arrested
No
