Eritrea, North Korea, and Turkmenistan are consistently ranked as having the least freedom of speech and press globally, with media serving as state mouthpieces. Other highly restrictive nations include China, Syria, Iran, and Vietnam, where surveillance, censorship, and detention of journalists are common.
There is no general right to the freedom of speech in the UK; however, since 1998, limited freedom of expression is guaranteed according to Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, as applied in British law through the Human Rights Act 1998.
In 2025, Iceland was the worldwide leader in terms of internet freedom. The country ranked first with 94 index points in the Freedom House Index, where each country received a numerical score from 100 (the freest) to 0 (the least free).
According to Amnesty International, freedom of expression is significantly limited in China and North Korea. Freedom of speech has improved in Myanmar in recent years, but significant challenges remain.
Freedom of Speech: Crash Course Government and Politics #25
How bad is Chinese censorship?
China's internet censorship is regarded by many as the most pervasive and sophisticated in the world. The system for blocking sites and articles is referred to as "The Great Firewall of China".
While hate speech and xenophobia are not defined in UK law, forms of expression which amount to verbal abuse, harassment or incite hatred against another person or group on the basis of their race or religion have been unlawful since before the recommendation was made in September 2024.
According to the Cato Institute's Human Freedom Index, the top 10 “free” countries are: Switzerland, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Ireland, Australia, Finland, Norway, Denmark, and, tied at 9th, the Netherlands, and the UK. The United States is 17th.
According to the Freedom House Freedom Index from 2024, Turkmenistan and South Sudan were the two least free countries in the world that year. The index measures the level of political rights and civil liberties in a country.
According to a study by The Reputation Institute, Canada has been named the most respected country in the world. In second and third place are Norway and Sweden, while Switzerland and Australia round out the top 5. “The Reputation Institute issues a yearly report of the countries with the 'best reputations' worldwide.
Iceland remains the most peaceful country in the world in 2021, a position it has held since 2008. It is joined at the top of the index by New Zealand, Denmark, Portugal, and Slovenia.
The Australian Constitution does not explicitly protect freedom of expression. However, the High Court has held that an implied freedom of political communication exists as an indispensable part of the system of representative and responsible government created by the Constitution.
Although the 1982 constitution guarantees freedom of speech, the Chinese government often uses the "subversion of state power" and "protection of state secrets" clauses in their law system to imprison those who criticize the government.
The U.S. has fallen from third to ninth place in the global ranking for support of free speech rights since 2021, according to a new study published by The Future of Free Speech at Vanderbilt University.
The report found that, despite the UK being the sixth richest nation in the world, we have fallen to 23rd place in global rankings. The US has also fallen to its lowest position, now sitting at 24th place. Meanwhile, Finland is reportedly the happiest place in the world for the eighth year in a row. Read full article.
The United States and the United Kingdom are both predominantly Christian nations, but when it comes to levels of religious commitment, there are some striking differences. Christianity remains dominant in both countries, but Americans tend to be more overtly religious than their British counterparts.
Yes, racism is illegal in the UK, prohibited under laws like the Equality Act 2010 and Criminal Justice Act 1998, making it unlawful to discriminate, harass, or stir up hatred based on race, ethnicity, or national origin in areas like employment, housing, and services, with racially motivated crimes treated as more serious hate crimes.
Anyone who claims it is always harassment and/or that the Forstater case says this, is wrong. As with many legal questions, the answer to whether misgendering is wrong is 'it depends'. There's been no law on this subject: no statute nor development of the common law.
Under current First Amendment jurisprudence, hate speech can only be criminalized when it directly incites imminent criminal activity or consists of specific threats of violence targeted against a person or group.
Censorship emerged after internet users began using images of Winnie-the-Pooh in satirical memes to compare the character to Xi Jinping, the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). An internet meme comparing Carrie Lam and Xi Jinping to Piglet and Winnie the Pooh, respectively.
In China, it's not illegal to possess a Bible or other Christian literary materials. However, the laws around selling and purchasing these resources have become much stricter in recent years.
Google has a difficult history in China. The company pulled its search engine out of China in 2010 because of government censorship and what the company said was a cyberattack from Chinese hackers trying to gain access to human rights activists' email accounts.
