Laws and regulations around the world that undermine free expression and human rights are increasing.

Judged as of 17 Oct 2019. True: credible human-rights or press-freedom monitors (e.g. Freedom House Freedom on the Net / Freedom in the World, Article 19, RSF, UN special rapporteurs, Access Now) document that, in the years up to 2019, the number or reach of laws and regulations restricting online or offline expression and related rights (censorship, criminalising speech, internet shutdowns, data localisation used for surveillance, 'fake news' laws) went up around the world, across several countries and regions. Mostly true: the trend is documented overall, with minor caveats (e.g. some regions improved, or the evidence is mainly about online speech). Mixed: the evidence is split, with some indices showing more restrictive laws and others showing stability, or a rise only in a few countries. Mostly false: there are notable examples of such laws, but the monitoring data show no overall increase, so the claim takes isolated cases as a global trend. False: the monitoring data show such laws held steady or declined over the period.

Set before the research began.

1. E1 Chinese-style 'digital authoritarianism' grows globally: study phys.org · 1 November 2018

   “The report found 17 governments approved or proposed laws restricting online media in the name of fighting "fake news," while 18 countries increased surveillance or weakened encryption protection to more closely monitor their citizenry.”

2. E2 Chinese-style 'digital authoritarianism' grows globally: study phys.org · 1 November 2018

   “According to the researchers, internet freedom declined in 26 countries from June 2017 to May 2018. Gains were seen in 19 countries, most of them minor.”

3. E3 The Global Expression Report ARTICLE 19 · 2020

   “Scores have been sliding in all regions for a decade, except in the Middle East and North Africa, where expression saw a very slight advance between 2011 and 2012 (in the wake of the Arab Spring) but had fallen back to its 2009 regional expression levels by 2019.”

4. E4 The Global Expression Report ARTICLE 19 · 2020

   “In 2019, 1,706 days of Internet access were disrupted by 213 Internet shutdowns across 33 countries, compared to 188 shutdowns in 2019.”

A 2018 report on a monitoring study found that 17 governments had approved or proposed laws restricting online media in the name of fighting "fake news", and that 18 countries had increased surveillance or weakened encryption protection (E1). ARTICLE 19 reports expression scores sliding in all regions for a decade up to 2019, with the Middle East and North Africa back at its 2009 level after a brief gain (E3). It also counts 213 internet shutdowns across 33 countries in 2019, though the year it compares against is garbled in the quote (E4). The trend is documented across many countries and regions, but with caveats: internet freedom improved in 19 countries over the year to May 2018, most only slightly (E2), and the evidence is mostly about online speech and overall expression scores rather than counts of laws.