New Reports Expose the Global Toll of Censorship

In an era where surveillance and censorship are often justified under the guise of security, the arts frequently act as a crucial barometer for measuring the chilling effects of repression. Alarmingly, recent data indicates that 70% of the global population has witnessed a deterioration in their freedom of expression over the past decade, with approximately 5.2 billion individuals experiencing what can only be described as “crisis” or “highly restricted” circumstances.

These findings are extracted from the 2025 Global Expression Report (GxR) issued by the British advocacy group Article 19 in June, which offers a quantitative assessment of free speech across the globe. Out of the 161 nations evaluated, merely 35—representing 15% of the global populace—are categorized as having “open” environments, where freedom of expression is predominantly upheld and promoted. For every single individual who has gained expressive freedom, a staggering 19 individuals have lost it. Complementing this, the State of Artistic Freedom report from the nonprofit organization Freemuse has also highlighted these alarming trends, documenting instances of censorship, imprisonment, and harassment targeted towards artists across various regions, including seemingly democratic nations like the United States.

When taken together, these reports portray a chilling narrative of the global decline in expressive freedoms. According to Article 19’s Executive Director Quinn McKew, immediate and vigorous action is necessary to reverse this trend “before it is too late… and it is indeed later than we think.”

The GxR leverages insights from the Varieties of Democracy dataset alongside World Bank population statistics, evaluating 161 nations based on 25 different indicators ranging from media and internet freedoms to civil society rights and cultural expression. The conclusions are unequivocal, underscoring a downward trajectory in expressive freedoms over the past ten years—a sentiment mirrored by Freemuse, which has recently highlighted that artistic freedom has reached a low that is “at its lowest point.” The organization enlists regional and topical specialists to aid in compiling its annual report, capturing the testimonials of artists who are facing persecution and repression. In particular, the 2025 report narrates the experiences of 16 artists imprisoned in Cuba, accounts of tortured artists in Georgia, bans on art exhibitions in Turkey due to anti-LGBTQ+ backlash, and instances of censorship affecting artists—especially those protesting what the United Nations has classified as a genocide in Gaza across both the United States and Germany.

Svetlana Mintcheva, the former director of programs at the National Coalition Against Censorship, elaborated in Freemuse’s report about how “geopolitical tensions, displeased donors, discontented audiences, anxieties surrounding violent protests, and emergent legislation all contribute to a charged atmosphere rife with anxiety and self-censorship.” A survey earlier this year from Artists at Risk Connection, PEN America, and the Association of Art Museum Directors found that 65% of art museum directors reported experiencing pressures not to display certain artworks or exhibitions at least once. Many respondents illustrated the rising pressures to self-censor, notably pre-dating the Trump administration when significant cuts were made to National Endowment for the Arts grants and when targeted attacks were aimed towards Smithsonian museums and universities.

Freemuse’s report underscores that global assaults on artistic freedom manifest in both overt, brutal forms—including bans, trials, imprisonments, and even murders—as well as more insidious, overlooked tactics such as the withholding of funding, denial of performance spaces, online harassment, and social ostracization. Sara Whyatt, Freemuse’s research director, noted in a correspondence with Hyperallergic: “The end result is a creeping climate of self-censorship, which is far more elusive to detect but equally damaging, manifesting in all forms of governmental structures from autocracies to democracies.”

This gradual corrosion of freedoms has been on the rise. While the U.S. still qualifies as an “open” country according to the GxR, the 2018 Freemuse report flagged it as one of ten countries demonstrating worrisome trends in artistic suppression. By 2021, the U.S. was cited among “Countries of Concern” alongside over a dozen others like Brazil, China, Egypt, India, and Uganda. The GxR from that same year demonstrated a steep decline in the U.S.’s global ranking—falling from ninth place in 2011 to 30th place. The latest 2025 report indicates a minor recovery in ranking to 21st place, though its Expression Score has scarcely moved, increasing from 84 to just 85 out of 100. Notably, Freemuse’s 2025 report specifically identifies the U.S. as a site of repression, highlighting cultural retaliation in various forms.

Reports such as these hold great importance in pinpointing which indicators of free expression are under the most intense assault—insights that Article 19’s Director for Law and Policy Barbora Bukovská shared with Hyperallergic.

Ultimately, as McKew underscores, art is paramount in challenging power structures by confronting oppression and reshaping public political perspectives. “Artists should leverage this unique position to amplify the voices of those stifled, drawing attention to injustices, rights violations, and acts of repression wherever they may arise,” McKew advised.