Data for 2025

Government Censorship of the Media, 2025

Name: Government Censorship of the Media, 2025
Creator: V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
License: https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/

2025, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Government Censorship of the Media, 2025 covers 176 countries. Belgium is highest, at 3.489; South Sudan is lowest, at -3.017. The middle country reads 0.565. Against 2024, 75 values changed (35 up, 40 down), the same countries are covered.

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Government Censorship of the Media · Data for 2025

HighestBelgium

3.489

LowestSouth Sudan

-3.017

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

176countries
1measure
2025the year it describes
174distinct 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, 2025, 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 176 countries · select a heading to sort

Government Censorship of the Media, 2025: every country, as published by V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg.
derived
1	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	3.489
2	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	3.258
3	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	3.201
4	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	3.187
5	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	3.043
6	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	3.037
7	Canada`CAN`Northern America	3.016
8	Brazil`BRA`South America	2.958
9	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	2.946
10	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	2.849
11	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	2.747
12	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	2.740
13	Chile`CHL`South America	2.651
14	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	2.595
15	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	2.506
16	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	2.451
17	France`FRA`Western Europe	2.308
18	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	2.216
19	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	2.214
20	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	2.163
21	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	2.161
22	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	2.144
23	Suriname`SUR`South America	2.112
24	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	2.064
25	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	2.014
26	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	1.961
27	Uruguay`URY`South America	1.903
28	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	1.895
=29	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	1.867
=29	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	1.867
31	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	1.853
32	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	1.839
33	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	1.825
34	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	1.733
35	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	1.727
36	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	1.721
37	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	1.677
38	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	1.667
39	Honduras`HND`Central America	1.627
40	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	1.562
41	Paraguay`PRY`South America	1.547
42	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	1.517
43	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	1.494
44	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	1.431
45	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	1.371
46	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	1.365
47	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	1.357
48	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	1.335
49	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	1.316
50	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	1.309
51	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	1.284
52	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	1.279
53	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	1.262
54	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	1.253
55	Colombia`COL`South America	1.252
56	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	1.246
57	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	1.241
58	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	1.213
59	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	1.187
60	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	1.166
61	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	1.117
62	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	1.088
63	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	1.065
64	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	1.055
65	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	1.024
66	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	1.019
67	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.934
68	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.932
69	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.916
70	Peru`PER`South America	0.909
71	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.881
72	United States`USA`Northern America	0.875
73	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.827
74	Kosovo`XKX`Southern Europe	0.800
75	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.790
=76	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	0.789
=76	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.789
78	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.782
79	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.722
80	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.712
81	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.683
82	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.665
83	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.653
84	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.614
85	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.599
86	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.595
87	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	0.589
88	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	0.575
89	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.554
90	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.549
91	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0.544
92	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	0.510
93	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.460
94	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.431
95	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.426
96	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.392
97	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.293
98	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.291
99	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.288
100	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.228
101	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.218
102	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.200
103	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.176
104	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.164
105	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.070
106	Somaliland`XSL`Eastern Africa	0.064
107	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.061
108	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.043
109	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	-0.017
110	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	-0.024
111	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	-0.087
112	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	-0.156
113	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	-0.159
114	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	-0.164
115	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	-0.183
116	India`IND`Southern Asia	-0.258
117	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	-0.275
118	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	-0.307
119	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	-0.315
120	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	-0.346
121	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	-0.388
122	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	-0.394
123	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	-0.420
124	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	-0.434
125	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	-0.454
126	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	-0.468
127	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	-0.505
128	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	-0.510
129	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	-0.550
130	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	-0.579
131	Mexico`MEX`Central America	-0.582
132	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	-0.654
133	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	-0.740
134	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	-0.755
135	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	-0.762
136	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	-0.914
137	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	-0.935
138	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	-0.951
139	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	-0.982
140	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	-0.990
141	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	-1.022
142	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	-1.115
143	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	-1.119
144	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	-1.157
145	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	-1.200
146	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	-1.232
147	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	-1.316
148	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	-1.328
149	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	-1.476
150	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	-1.483
151	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	-1.494
152	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	-1.693
153	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	-1.715
154	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	-1.757
155	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	-1.784
156	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	-1.811
157	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	-1.891
158	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	-1.938
159	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	-1.939
160	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	-1.995
161	Venezuela`VEN`South America	-2.041
162	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	-2.048
163	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	-2.127
164	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	-2.207
165	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	-2.217
166	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	-2.222
167	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	-2.225
168	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	-2.273
169	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	-2.425
170	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	-2.547
171	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	-2.720
172	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	-2.775
173	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	-2.822
174	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	-2.954
175	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	-2.983
176	South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	-3.017

02In 2025

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Belgium3.489
2Denmark3.258
3Estonia3.201
4Portugal3.187
5Luxembourg3.043

Lowest

176South Sudan-3.017
175Eritrea-2.983
174Myanmar-2.954
173Belarus-2.822
172North Korea-2.775

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.565. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

032024 → 2025

Since 2024

What changed between 2024 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
75values changed, of 176 in both
35 · 40rose · fell
101unchanged

Rose most

Mauritius-0.880 → 1.667+2.547
Syria-2.362 → 0.164+2.526
South Korea0.605 → 1.867+1.262
Finland1.675 → 2.740+1.065
Ethiopia-1.254 → -0.394+0.860

Fell most

United States2.487 → 0.875−1.612
Bulgaria1.640 → 0.288−1.352
Cuba-0.773 → -2.048−1.275
Lithuania2.345 → 1.284−1.061
Afghanistan-1.501 → -2.547−1.046

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 2025.
174 distinct values among 176
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 2 countries share 1.867. 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 176 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
176 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-2025-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 (2025). Government Censorship of the Media, 2025 [data set], describing 2025. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/media-censorship/2025

0636 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Government Censorship of the Media, 2024
176 countries
The year after ›
This is the newest year. A newer one will get its own page at its own address; this one is never rewritten.
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