Freedom House estimates that internet freedom in the world is in decline for the 16th year in a row and puts Serbia in the "partly free" category. Europe in that category is shared only by Hungary
The report assesses that the efforts of authoritarian authorities to isolate the population from the Internet and the abuse of laws regulating the Internet and content generated by artificial intelligence have created new obstacles to freedom of expression and access to information.
Countries are rated on a scale of zero (least freedom) to 100 (most) in three categories: barriers to internet access and content restrictions and violation of user rights.
The first is Estonia with 91 points, followed by Costa Rica and Taiwan. China, Iran and Myanmar have the lowest scores with nine points each. Serbia is one of 15 "partially free" countries, and of the European countries, only Hungary is next to it, with 69 points.
Freedom House lists Serbia among the countries where citizens used digital tools to mobilize and organize mass protests, which in many cases were a turning point, along with India and Iran and Hungary and Kenya and Cuba. He recalls that citizens continued to gather in student-led protests against the government that began after the fall of the canopy at the train station in 2024, when 16 people died, and that the government harshly suppressed the protests, many of which were organized with the help of digital tools.
In the previous report from 2025, Freedom House transferred Serbia from the category of "free" to "partially free" with 67 points, explaining that the government detained people who supported the protests online.
In the "Freedom in the World 2026" report, Serbia has 53 points and the status of "partially free" with a drop of three points due to retaliation against professors who participated in protests and excessive police force. The report also states that according to the findings of Amnesty International, the police and services used spyware against journalists and activists.
The rating of Internet freedom shows the state in which Serbian citizens get information and organize themselves ahead of the elections, when digital channels are crucial for independent media and the opposition. A drop of one point indicates that there is no improvement, but also that the situation has not worsened dramatically compared to last year. For Serbia, the fact that only Turkey is worse than it in Europe is also important for the country's European path, because freedom of the media and expression are part of the negotiation conditions. Freedom House's estimates are the organization's position, and the government has disputed them in the past.
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