New Delhi: India is 24 in a study of the future of free speech in 33 countries.
The Future of Free Speech, which conducted the study, claims to be an independent, nonpartisan think tank located at Vanderbilt University in the US.
The reports seeks to answer how much people around the world facing various types and levels of restrictions support free speech and what specific issues they think people should be allowed to discuss and criticise openly.
Future of Free Speech Index, 2024. Graph: futurefreespeech.org.
Scandinavian countries (Norway, Denmark, and Sweden) and two democratic backsliders (Hungary and Venezuela) show the highest levels of support for free speech. Muslim-majority countries and the Global South show the lowest levels of support, the report finds.
The surveys were developed by The Future of Free Speech and implemented by YouGov and some of its international partners in October 2024. They build on the think-tank’s previous report, ‘Who Cares about Free Speech?’, published in 2021.
India’s overall score is 62.63.
The following are India’s scores in 2021 and 2024 on eight questions.
India’s Future of Free Speech Index Overall Score. Graph: futurefreespeech.org.
Although support for free speech shows a strong co-variation with the actual level of freedom of expression, India is among countries, along with Hungary and Venezuela, where the actual level of free speech is relatively low compared to the popular demand.
Indians and South Africans are among those who believe that they have undergone the most significant progress in support for free speech, says the report, adding that “although observers and rankings tend to agree that the situation in India has become worse, if anything.”
Change in Overall Support for Free Speech Since 2021. The difference between The Future of Free Speech Index scores between surveys conducted in 2021 and 2024. Graph: futurefreespeech.org.
The report finds that while most nations show high levels of support for free speech in the abstract, support is lower and more divided when it comes to statements that are offensive to minorities or one’s own religion, supportive of homosexual relationships, or insulting to the national flag.
While people generally favour allowing criticism of the government; the median support across all countries is 90%. However, India is among the few countries – along with Pakistan, the Philippines, and the four African countries in the sample – where less than 75% of the population think the government should be allowed to prevent criticism.
Tolerance of reporting costly information in India. Percentage of respondents who think the media should be able to publish this type of information. Photo: futurefreespeech.org.
Interestingly, the rankings are fundamentally different when the report looks at the willingness to allow deepfakes of politicians: Citizens of India, Hungary, Indonesia, Taiwan, and South Korea are the most tolerant, whereas citizens of Venezuela, Chile, France, the United Kingdom, and Germany are among the least tolerant.
Opinions about deepfakes thus seem to reflect a different logic, the report says.
Tolerance of AI-generated content in India. Percentage of respondents who think generative AI should be able to create. Graph: futurefreespeech.org.
The report addresses the following free speech issues:
- Three questions about the rejection of censorship concerning private speech, media, and the internet,
- Five questions about the willingness to allow sensitive types of statements that are critical of the government, offensive to religion, offensive to minority groups, support homosexual relationships, or insult the national flag
- Two questions about preference for free speech vis-à-vis national security and economic stability.
