China
Not Free
9
100
| A Obstacles to Access | 7 25 |
| B Limits on Content | 2 35 |
| C Violations of User Rights | 0 40 |
Last Year's Score & Status
9
100
Not Free
Scores are based on a scale of 0 (least free) to 100 (most free).
See the methodology and report acknowledgements.
Internet users in China have faced the world’s worst conditions for internet freedom for over a decade. People face severe legal and extralegal repercussions for online activities like sharing news stories, talking about their religious beliefs, and communicating with family members and others overseas. Human rights lawyers and journalists are routinely imprisoned for multiple years over their online activities.1 Authorities wield immense power to censor and manipulate online content, and seek to scrub any discussion of dissent from the Chinese internet.2 People across the country faced an hour-long connectivity disruption in August 2025, likely due to a misconfiguration of the internet censorship system known as the Great Firewall.3
This report has been abridged for Freedom on the Net 2026. Please consider making a donation to support future editions of this vital resource. For additional information, see the 2024 full report and 2025 abridged report.
- 1“China: Halt Sham Trial and Release Human Rights Lawyer Xie Yang,” Chinese Human Rights Defenders, July 30, 2025, https://www.nchrd.org/2025/07/china-halt-sham-trial-and-release-human-r…; “CPJ urges China to release journalist Zhang Zhan after second conviction,” Committee to Protect Journalists, September 19, 2025, https://cpj.org/2025/09/cpj-urges-china-to-release-journalist-zhang-zha….
- 2“China Dissent Monitor Issue 11: October – December 2025,” Freedom House, 2026 https://freedomhouse.org/report/china-dissent-monitor/2025/issue-11-oct….
- 3Mingshi Wu, “Analysis of the GFW's Unconditional Port 443 Block on August 20, 2025,” Great Firewall Report, August 20, 2025, https://gfw.report/blog/gfw_unconditional_rst_20250820/en/.
A1
1.00-6.00 pts0-6 pts
| Do infrastructural limitations restrict access to the internet or the speed and quality of internet connections? | 5.005 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? | 1.001 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? | 1.001 6.006 |
A4
1.00-6.00 pts0-6 pts
| Are there legal, regulatory, or economic obstacles that restrict the diversity of service providers? | 0.000 6.006 |
A5
1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
| Do national regulatory bodies that oversee service providers, digital platforms, and the internet more broadly fail to operate in a free, fair, and independent manner? | 0.000 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? | 0.000 6.006 |
B2
1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
| Do state or nonstate actors employ legal, administrative, or other means to force publishers, digital platforms, content hosts, or other intermediaries to delete content, particularly material that is protected by international human rights standards? | 0.000 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? | 0.000 4.004 |
B4
1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
| Do journalists, commentators, and ordinary people practice self-censorship online? | 0.000 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 favored interest? | 0.000 4.004 |
B6
1.00-3.00 pts0-3 pts
| Are there economic, regulatory, or other constraints that negatively affect individuals’ ability to publish content online? | 0.000 3.003 |
B7
1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
| Does the online information landscape lack diversity and reliability? | 1.001 4.004 |
B8
1.00-6.00 pts0-6 pts
| Do conditions impede individuals’ ability to form communities, mobilize, and campaign online, particularly on political and social issues? | 1.001 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? | 0.000 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? | 0.000 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? | 0.000 6.006 |
C4
1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
| Does the government place restrictions on anonymous online communication or encryption? | 0.000 4.004 |
C5
1.00-6.00 pts0-6 pts
| Does state surveillance of internet activities infringe on individuals’ right to privacy? | 0.000 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 individuals’ right to privacy? | 0.000 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? | 0.000 5.005 |
C8
1.00-3.00 pts0-3 pts
| Are websites, governmental and private entities, service providers, or individuals subject to widespread hacking and other forms of cyberattack? | 0.000 3.003 |
Country Facts
-
Population
1,412,175,000 -
Global Freedom Score
9 100 not free -
Internet Freedom Score
9 100 not free -
Freedom in the World Status
Not Free
