Data for 2002

Government Censorship of the Media, 2002

Name: Government Censorship of the Media, 2002
Creator: V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
License: https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/

2002, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Government Censorship of the Media, 2002 covers 175 countries. Belgium is highest, at 3.489; Uzbekistan is lowest, at -3.066. The middle country reads 0.767. Against 2001, 30 values changed (14 up, 16 down), the same countries are covered.

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Government Censorship of the Media · Data for 2002

HighestBelgium

3.489

LowestUzbekistan

-3.066

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

175countries
1measure
2002the year it describes
173distinct 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, 2002, 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 175 countries · select a heading to sort

Government Censorship of the Media, 2002: 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	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	2.989
11	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	2.916
12	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	2.882
13	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	2.858
14	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	2.775
15	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	2.749
16	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	2.649
17	Chile`CHL`South America	2.642
18	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	2.634
19	Peru`PER`South America	2.631
20	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	2.610
21	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	2.601
22	Canada`CAN`Northern America	2.573
23	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	2.515
24	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	2.487
25	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	2.462
26	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	2.404
27	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	2.375
28	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	2.373
29	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	2.299
30	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	2.295
31	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	2.248
32	France`FRA`Western Europe	2.241
33	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	2.145
34	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	2.136
35	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	2.119
36	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	2.111
37	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	2.077
38	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	2.052
39	Uruguay`URY`South America	2.028
40	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	1.975
41	United States`USA`Northern America	1.929
42	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	1.914
43	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	1.898
44	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	1.890
45	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	1.866
46	Argentina`ARG`South America	1.815
47	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	1.801
48	Suriname`SUR`South America	1.770
49	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	1.769
50	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	1.727
51	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	1.726
52	Brazil`BRA`South America	1.700
=53	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	1.695
=53	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	1.695
55	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	1.672
56	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	1.669
57	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	1.656
58	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	1.549
59	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	1.545
60	Panama`PAN`Central America	1.529
61	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	1.524
62	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	1.494
63	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	1.358
64	India`IND`Southern Asia	1.349
65	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	1.333
66	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	1.293
67	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	1.251
68	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	1.236
69	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	1.160
70	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	1.111
=71	Colombia`COL`South America	1.073
=71	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	1.073
73	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	1.064
74	Bolivia`BOL`South America	1.059
75	Kosovo`XKX`Southern Europe	1.044
76	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	1.017
77	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.919
78	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.879
79	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.859
80	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.850
81	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.846
82	Somaliland`XSL`Eastern Africa	0.829
83	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.807
84	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	0.806
85	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.788
86	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.787
87	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.776
88	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.767
89	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.752
90	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.744
91	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.735
92	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.704
93	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	0.695
94	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.642
95	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.635
96	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.555
97	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	0.537
98	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.526
99	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.510
100	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.503
101	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.469
102	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.445
103	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.387
104	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.367
105	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.357
106	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.303
107	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	0.274
108	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.260
109	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	0.223
110	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	0.198
111	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.186
112	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.131
113	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.126
114	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.012
115	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	-0.003
116	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	-0.009
117	Venezuela`VEN`South America	-0.027
118	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	-0.030
119	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	-0.036
120	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	-0.047
121	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	-0.116
122	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	-0.123
123	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	-0.193
124	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	-0.246
125	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	-0.261
126	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	-0.299
127	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	-0.303
128	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	-0.323
129	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	-0.328
130	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	-0.368
131	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	-0.409
132	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	-0.429
133	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	-0.447
134	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	-0.526
135	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	-0.612
136	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	-0.665
137	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	-0.689
138	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	-0.694
139	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	-0.803
140	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	-0.827
141	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	-0.860
142	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	-0.915
143	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	-0.933
144	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	-0.946
145	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	-0.973
146	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	-0.999
147	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	-1.027
148	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	-1.036
149	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	-1.089
150	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	-1.096
151	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	-1.104
152	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	-1.166
153	Guyana`GUY`South America	-1.181
154	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	-1.289
155	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	-1.305
156	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	-1.324
157	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	-1.345
158	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	-1.452
159	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	-1.573
160	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	-1.711
161	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	-1.737
162	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	-1.781
163	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	-1.828
164	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	-1.949
165	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	-2.081
166	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	-2.219
167	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	-2.254
168	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	-2.256
169	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	-2.362
170	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	-2.521
171	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	-2.700
172	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	-2.720
173	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	-2.775
174	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	-3.045
175	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	-3.066

02In 2002

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

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

Lowest

175Uzbekistan-3.066
174Syria-3.045
173North Korea-2.775
172Turkmenistan-2.720
171Eritrea-2.700

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.767. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

032001 → 2002

Since 2001

What changed between 2001 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
30values changed, of 175 in both
14 · 16rose · fell
145unchanged

Rose most

Afghanistan-2.443 → 0.367+2.810
Seychelles-0.921 → -0.009+0.912
Hungary1.725 → 2.462+0.737
Cabo Verde1.497 → 2.145+0.648
Madagascar-0.563 → -0.030+0.533

Fell most

Eritrea-1.252 → -2.700−1.448
Nepal2.181 → 1.293−0.888
United Arab Emirates-1.056 → -1.828−0.772
Côte d’Ivoire1.403 → 0.846−0.557
Colombia1.536 → 1.073−0.463

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 2002.
173 distinct values among 175
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 2 countries share 1.695. 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 175 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
175 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-2002-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 (2002). Government Censorship of the Media, 2002 [data set], describing 2002. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/media-censorship/2002

0636 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Government Censorship of the Media, 2001
175 countries
The year after ›
Government Censorship of the Media, 2003
175 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