Global Freedom Report: Fundamental rights highly restricted for billions of people worldwide

Some five billion people around the globe live in countries where the fundamental rights have been highly restricted or in crisis. The Global Freedom Report (GxR), published by British human rights organization Article 19, depicts a grim picture of eroding freedoms, being exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Article19’s Executive Director Quinn McKew suggests we are at a tipping point where countries and individuals alike, either commit to building a world based on rights to expression and information or become bystanders to the rapid decline in the freedoms that sustain robust and engaged societies. In an interview with DW, McKew puts the report’s new findings into context.

DW: Where did you determine the heaviest setbacks and what were the reasons?

McKew: Arguably, the heaviest setbacks were in the Asia Pacific region, where we document the regional score at its lowest in a decade: 85% of the population lives in countries ranked in crisis or highly restricted — a 39% rise since 2010. Much of this decline is due to China’s influence in the region.

As seen in countries across the region, ethno-religious nationalism and military influence are toxic forces suppressing freedom of expression overall. We are seeing more countries turning to the Chinese model of governance, and this is having a profound effect on human rights and specifically rights of expression.

Other bright spots in the region have gone dark: Malaysia’s reformist Pakatan Harapan government fell in February 2020, giving way to a hardline conservative government, which cracked down on critical speech and dashed hopes for progress.

Meanwhile, the Middle East and North Africa region has the world’s lowest regional score by some distance – and it is still falling. No country in the region is ranked as open, while 72% of the population lives in countries categorized as being in crisis. Again, due to entrenched authoritarianism — as well as extremely restricted civic space and non-existent independent press in many countries — the region is marked by deepening and persistent repression.

The report depicts a bleak picture of freedom of expression around the globe, most often based on corona measurements. Is this a trend you observed throughout the last years?

We have documented a steady decline in the global score for expression in each of the editions of the GxR report. Authoritarianism and the undermining of democratic structures has been underway for many years, and the decline of media freedom continues to be at the sharp end of the decline in all cases where autocrats and populists have sought to entrench power.

The real challenge for us all is: how do we reverse this trend, which has been made markedly worse by the response to the pandemic? If you begin to acknowledge the facts behind the numbers — the fact that billions of people on this planet do not have access to fundamental rights of expression — our response has to be profoundly serious.

The report paints a bleak picture of freedom of expression around the globe, most often based on corona measurements – Is this a trend you observed throughout the last years?

We have documented a steady decline in the global score for expression in each of the editions of the GxR report. Authoritarianism and the undermining of democratic structures has been underway for many years, and the decline of media freedom continues to be at the sharp end of the decline in all cases where autocrats and populists have sought to entrench power.

The real challenge for us all is: how do we reverse this trend, which has been made markedly worse by the response to the pandemic? If you begin to acknowledge the facts behind the numbers — the fact that billions of people on this planet do not have access to fundamental rights of expression — our response has to be profoundly serious.

Are online movements and/or protests a sufficient alternative to counter these issues as some governments resort to tighter control of online narratives, according to your report. What do you expect from journalism?

We all need to prepare for a more engaged future now. Journalists have a huge role to play in this by fighting for independence, maintaining high standards for investigative work, staying deeply curious and highlighting both injustice and change where they occur.

In every community, in every country – if we are to address the serious global challenges we face – expression must be at the heart of new power relationships. In rebuilding our relationships with government, media, academia, and the arts, we must demand our right to know and our right to speak – online, on the streets, wherever we feel fit. And we must make ourselves heard.

That means advocating for and constituting people’s assemblies, commissioning timely and robust public inquiries, and acknowledging where collective failings lie. Journalism is crucial to the way we tell these stories.

One critical area to address is that of meaningful investment and sustained action to center expression as a means of strengthening public health, drive rapid action on the climate crisis, and to support economic recovery. We are at a critical juncture.

For policymakers and politicians, business leaders and influencers, this requires radical transparency and serious intent to repair the declines in expression we have witnessed in the last decade. International human rights organizations cannot drive this change without broader engagement from all of us. Our role is to ensure that information, such as the analysis we share in the GxR, reaches as wide an audience as possible.

*Quinn McKew was appointed as ARTICLE 19’s Executive Director in 2020. McKew has a background in community building, environmental activism, and the protection of human rights in the digital age. She concluded a Master of Business Administration from Georgetown University focusing on global non-profit management and a BA in International Relations and the Environment from Stanford University.