Downgrade due to suppressed speech
Freedom House downgraded Georgia to "Partly Free" in its 2026 "Seismic Shifts on the Global Internet" report. The organization says Georgian authorities suppressed online activism and speech perceived as critical of the ruling Georgian Dream party during the reporting period from 1 June 2025 to 31 May 2026. The country lost its "Free" status for the first time since it moved into that category in 2012. I find this decline inevitable because the score dropped to 68 out of 100, down from 70 in 2025 and 78 in 2022. Georgia’s score has declined every year since 2022. During this period, several Georgian public figures and journalists faced fines of thousands of lari for their Facebook posts. The downgrade comes amid broader concerns about restrictions on freedom of expression in Georgia, including penalties people face for their activity on social media.
Regional score comparisons
While Georgia holds the highest score among the five countries assessed in the Eurasia grouping, its score of 68 sits below the 70-point threshold required for a "Free" classification according to the Freedom House methodology. I note the large gap between Georgia and the rest of its region.
| Country | Score |
|---|---|
| Georgia | 68 |
| Ukraine | 64 |
| Kyrgyzstan | 45 |
| Belarus | 21 |
| Russia | 16 |
Freedom House assesses internet freedom through access restrictions, limitations on online content, and violations of users’ rights. Under the methodology, countries scoring between 70 and 100 points are "Free", those scoring between 40 and 69 are "Partly Free", and those scoring between zero and 39 are "Not Free". I note that internet freedom declined globally for the 16th consecutive year. Out of 38 assessed countries, 16 experienced a deterioration in internet freedom while eight recorded improvements. Iran experienced the sharpest decline, joining China and Myanmar among the most restrictive online environments. Estonia received the highest rating for having the freest internet. The report covers 70.9% of the world’s internet users and warns that governments across different political systems create new barriers to accessing information and expressing views online. Freedom House also examines whether people can express views freely, access diverse information, and use digital platforms without facing surveillance, harassment, or legal repercussions.
