India takes 24th spot in free speech survey

Sub: IR

Sec: Report and Indices

Context:

A global survey conducted by the Future of Free Speech, an independent U.S.-based think tank, ranked India 24th out of 33 countries on the issue of support for free speech.
The report, titled “Who in the World Supports Free Speech?” reveals significant findings about the state of free speech across the globe.

Key findings:

While abstract support for free speech remains strong worldwide, the survey found a growing erosion of support for controversial speech, with democratic nations like the S., Israel, and Japan showing the most significant declines since 2021.
Scandinavian countries dominated the top rankings, with Norway and Denmark scoring the highest with 87.9 and 87.0, respectively.
Indonesia, Malaysia, and Pakistan showed the most improvement, though they remained lower-ranked.
Interestingly, authoritarian-leaning nations like Hungary and Venezuela scored high in public support for free speech despite government restrictions.

India’s Position:

India ranked 24th with a score of 62.6, placed between South Africa (66.9) and Lebanon (61.8).
While many Indians consider it very important to speak freely without government censorship, there was lower support for criticism of government policies.
37% of Indian respondents supported the idea that governments should be able to prevent people from criticizing government policies. This was the highest percentage among the countries surveyed.

Disconnect Between Support and Protection of Free Speech:

The survey noted a disconnect in countries like India, Hungary, and Venezuela, where public support for free speech is high, but actual protection of free speech is low.
India, despite having a relatively high public support for free speech, has been identified as an example of democratic backsliding, where freedom of expression is under threat despite public opinion.