Data for 1993

Government Censorship of the Media, 1993

Name: Government Censorship of the Media, 1993
Creator: V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
License: https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/

1993, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Government Censorship of the Media, 1993 covers 173 countries. Belgium is highest, at 3.489; Syria is lowest, at -3.045. The middle country reads 0.515. Against 1992, 34 values changed (23 up, 11 down), 1 country joined.

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Government Censorship of the Media · Data for 1993

HighestBelgium

3.489

LowestSyria

-3.045

Shaded by value in five groups of equal size, darkest at the better end.

173countries
1measure
1993the year it describes
172distinct values3 decimals, as published
Sep 26, 2026read from the publisher
CC BY-SA 4.0licence

01Position · derived

The table

Every country and every column of Government Censorship of the Media, 1993, as published. V-Dem Institute ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. “=” marks a shared position.

Search this table

Showing 25 of 173 countries · select a heading to sort

Government Censorship of the Media, 1993: every country, as published by V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg.
derived
1	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	3.489
2	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	3.380
3	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	3.378
4	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	3.355
5	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	3.258
6	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	3.255
7	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	3.254
8	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	3.173
9	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	3.043
10	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	2.916
11	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	2.858
12	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	2.749
13	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	2.634
14	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	2.610
15	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	2.601
16	United States`USA`Northern America	2.595
17	Canada`CAN`Northern America	2.573
18	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	2.487
19	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	2.404
20	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	2.401
21	Chile`CHL`South America	2.313
22	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	2.311
23	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	2.306
24	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	2.299
25	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	2.295
26	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	2.248
27	France`FRA`Western Europe	2.241
28	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	2.152
29	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	2.136
30	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	2.126
31	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	2.111
32	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	2.109
33	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	2.089
34	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	2.077
35	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	2.055
36	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	2.052
37	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	2.032
38	Argentina`ARG`South America	2.009
39	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	1.998
40	Suriname`SUR`South America	1.936
41	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	1.901
42	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	1.898
43	Brazil`BRA`South America	1.808
44	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	1.772
45	India`IND`Southern Asia	1.763
46	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	1.726
47	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	1.719
48	Niger`NER`Western Africa	1.714
49	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	1.695
50	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	1.656
51	Panama`PAN`Central America	1.655
52	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	1.614
53	Colombia`COL`South America	1.531
54	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	1.494
55	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	1.394
56	Venezuela`VEN`South America	1.368
57	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	1.365
58	Uruguay`URY`South America	1.351
59	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	1.333
60	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	1.195
61	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	1.111
62	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	1.065
63	Bolivia`BOL`South America	1.059
64	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	1.017
65	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	1.001
66	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.984
67	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.968
68	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.937
69	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.919
70	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.858
71	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.850
72	Somaliland`XSL`Eastern Africa	0.829
73	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.795
74	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.788
75	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.764
76	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	0.740
77	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0.719
78	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.675
79	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.635
80	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.588
81	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.585
82	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.571
83	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.555
84	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.544
85	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.536
86	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.526
87	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.515
88	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	0.513
89	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.503
90	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.469
91	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.459
92	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.451
93	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	0.411
94	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.387
95	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.357
96	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.303
97	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.257
98	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.250
99	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	0.218
100	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.209
101	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0.202
102	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.141
103	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.131
104	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.071
105	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.064
106	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0.028
107	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.025
108	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.004
109	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	-0.002
110	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	-0.013
111	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	-0.032
112	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	-0.072
113	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	-0.085
114	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	-0.116
115	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	-0.123
116	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	-0.131
117	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	-0.186
118	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	-0.218
119	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	-0.236
120	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	-0.274
121	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	-0.276
122	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	-0.401
123	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	-0.411
124	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	-0.429
125	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	-0.479
126	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	-0.492
127	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	-0.583
128	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	-0.593
129	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	-0.636
130	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	-0.665
=131	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	-0.674
=131	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	-0.674
133	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	-0.689
134	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	-0.708
135	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	-0.841
136	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	-0.862
137	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	-0.933
138	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	-0.949
139	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	-0.964
140	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	-0.973
141	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	-1.027
142	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	-1.068
143	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	-1.142
144	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	-1.166
145	Guyana`GUY`South America	-1.181
146	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	-1.237
147	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	-1.300
148	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	-1.324
149	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	-1.406
150	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	-1.464
151	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	-1.586
152	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	-1.674
153	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	-1.715
154	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	-1.726
155	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	-1.758
156	Peru`PER`South America	-1.764
157	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	-1.781
158	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	-1.819
159	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	-1.879
160	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	-1.949
161	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	-2.003
162	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	-2.081
163	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	-2.093
164	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	-2.227
165	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	-2.232
166	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	-2.254
167	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	-2.256
168	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	-2.362
169	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	-2.521
170	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	-2.560
171	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	-2.730
172	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	-2.775
173	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	-3.045

02In 1993

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Belgium3.489
2Germany3.380
3Sweden3.378
4Australia3.355
5Denmark3.258

Lowest

173Syria-3.045
172North Korea-2.775
171Malawi-2.730
170United Arab Emirates-2.560
169Libya-2.521

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.515. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

031992 → 1993

Since 1992

What changed between 1992 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+1 / −0countries joined / left
34values changed, of 172 in both
23 · 11rose · fell
138unchanged

Rose most

Ghana-1.025 → 0.984+2.009
Cambodia-1.543 → -0.123+1.420
El Salvador-0.745 → 0.555+1.300
Lesotho-0.247 → 0.858+1.105
Latvia1.773 → 2.634+0.861

Fell most

Azerbaijan0.553 → -0.593−1.146
Tajikistan0.154 → -0.949−1.103
Algeria0.187 → -0.636−0.823
Guyana-0.530 → -1.181−0.651
Turkmenistan-1.380 → -1.879−0.499

+ Slovakia

Both years come from the same release, so a difference here is a change in the data, not a revision of it. Every country’s full history is charted on the statistic page.

04Caveats

Read before you use

What this edition’s numbers are and are not, worked out from the file itself.

How values are stored

One year of the 2026 release
Every year in this series comes from V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release, recalculated on one method. It can differ from what was first published for 1993.
172 distinct values among 173
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 2 countries share -0.674. Countries sharing a value share a position too.
The position is ours
V-Dem Institute publishes values only; the order is this site’s.
Nothing missing
Every one of the 173 countries has every column.

05The files

Download and cite

The table as a file, digit for digit, what this site changed, and a citation for this edition.

Licence in full

.csv
For a spreadsheet or code
173 rows · 4.8 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download media-censorship-1993-nations-inquiry.csv
↗
The publisher’s original
V-Dem Institute’s own file, on its own site.
V-Dem-CY-Core-v16_csv.zip

What this site changed: Reshaped into one row per country: regional and income-group totals are left out, only the columns listed are kept, each row gets its ISO 3166 code, and some country names are brought to one spelling. No value is recalculated, rescaled or rounded.

Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 · what it allows, in plain words

Cite this edition

V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg (1993). Government Censorship of the Media, 1993 [data set], describing 1993. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/media-censorship/1993

0636 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Government Censorship of the Media, 1992
172 countries
The year after ›
Government Censorship of the Media, 1994
173 countries
All of them
Government Censorship of the Media: every year
36 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
How it has moved, charted by country

07Questions