Made-up news and information seen as pervasive across the globe
Amid global debates about press freedom, free speech and freedom on the internet, new surveys of 35 countries show there is a disconnect between how people rate the importance of these freedoms and how free they actually feel to express themselves.
A set of bar charts showing that Most say free press, speech and internet are important, but not everyone says they have these freedoms in their country
Overall, a median of 61% of adults across 35 countries say having freedom of the press in their country is very important, with another 23% saying it is somewhat important. But only 28% say the media are completely free to report the news in their country, with an additional 38% saying the media are somewhat free.
What is a freedom gap?
We use the term “press freedom gap” to describe the difference between the share of people who say free media without censorship are important to have in their country, and the share who say media in their country are actually free to report the news. Similarly, we use “speech freedom gap” and “internet freedom gap” in reference to questions on those topics.
Similarly, a median of 59% globally say having freedom of speech in their country is very important, while 31% say speech is completely free where they live. This so-called “freedom gap” – where the share of people who value free speech is larger than the share who believe they have it – appears in 31 of the 35 countries surveyed.
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