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Expanding Freedom and Democracy
Freedom on the Net 2025

Colombia

Partly Free
64
100
A Obstacles to Access 19 25
B Limits on Content 24 35
C Violations of User Rights 21 40
Last Year's Score & Status
65 100 Partly Free
Scores are based on a scale of 0 (least free) to 100 (most free). See the methodology and report acknowledgements.
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header1 Key Developments, June 1, 2024 – May 31, 2025

Internet freedom declined slightly during the coverage period. Persistent challenges included the ongoing threat of violence against digital journalists. The Constitutional Court continued to issue rulings in defense of online freedom of expression and access to information.

  • In January 2025, the Constitutional Court ruled that social media platforms were a key arena for public debate, and that a regional government’s decision to block a journalist from its official account on the X platform amounted to a form of censorship.1 In May 2025, the court banned the practice of zero-rating, in which providers offer a limited form of internet service without charge. In addition to its potential to restrict the content to which certain people have access, critics of the practice had also raised concerns about the ways in which internet service providers (ISPs) used personal data to create and market zero-rating packages (A2, C1, and C6).2
  • At least two ISPs blocked the social media platform Reddit for several days at the start of the coverage period. The blocking was reportedly ordered by Colombia’s gambling regulator,3 adding to accusations that the government body has operated without sufficient transparency and imposed disproportionate restrictions (B1 and B3).4
  • In May 2025, nine officers from various military intelligence units were disciplined for ordering, coordinating, and executing open-source intelligence activities.5 The investigation began after two reports published by the magazine Semana in 2020 had revealed the use of sophisticated technology and open-source intelligence to illegally spy on politicians, magistrates, generals, social leaders, activists, and journalists in 2019 (C5).6
  • Violence against journalists persisted during the coverage period. In June 2024, a community journalist who managed a Facebook page about the La Gabarra community was killed, reportedly in connection with his work.7 In October 2024, a digital journalist survived a shooting while working as a taxi driver; the assailants allegedly told him that he was being attacked “because you’re a snitch” (C7).8
  • Cyberattacks against news outlets were apparently on the rise. In its 2025 report, the Foundation for Press Freedom (FLIP) noted that 35 percent of surveyed journalists said their outlets’ websites had been hacked in order to restrict access or capture information, compared with 24 percent in 2023 (C8).9

header2 Political Overview

Colombia is among the longest-standing democracies in Latin America, but one with a history of widespread violence and serious human rights abuses. Public institutions have demonstrated the capacity to check executive power, and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the country’s main left-wing guerrilla group, signed a peace accord with the government in 2016. Nonetheless, Colombia faces enormous challenges in consolidating peace and guaranteeing political rights and civil liberties outside of major urban areas.

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.

A Obstacles to Access

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? 2.002 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? 4.004 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? 2.002 4.004

B Limits on Content

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? 4.004 6.006

Score Change: The score declined from 5 to 4 because the social media platform Reddit was blocked for several days during the coverage period.

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? 2.002 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? 3.003 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? 2.002 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? 2.002 3.003
B7 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
Does the online information landscape lack diversity and reliability? 3.003 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? 5.005 6.006

C Violations of User Rights

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? 4.004 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? 5.005 6.006
C4 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
Does the government place restrictions on anonymous communication or encryption? 3.003 4.004
C5 1.00-6.00 pts0-6 pts
Does state surveillance of internet activities infringe on users’ right to privacy? 2.002 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? 3.003 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? 1.001 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? 1.001 3.003

On Colombia

See all data, scores & information on this country or territory.

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Country Facts

  • Population

    51,870,000

  • Global Freedom Score

    70 100 free

  • Internet Freedom Score

    64 100 partly free

  • Freedom in the World Status

    Free

  • Networks Restricted

    No

  • Websites Blocked

    No

  • Pro-government Commentators

    No

  • Users Arrested

    No