Key Highlights
- India placed 24th among 33 surveyed nations, scoring 62.6, sandwiched between South Africa and Lebanon.
- Most Indians feel that freedom of expression has gotten better, yet the index shows a downward trend.
- 37% of respondents think the government should curb criticism of its policies – the highest proportion worldwide.
- Unlike most countries, public enthusiasm for free speech in India does not translate into strong legal safeguards, mirroring the cases of Hungary and Venezuela.
Detailed Insights
The Future of Free Speech, a U.S. think‑tank, released its October 2024 report “Who in the World Supports Free Speech?”. The study reveals that while a solid majority of Indians endorse the principle of unrestricted speech, confidence in governmental criticism is markedly low, trailing the global average. This disconnect is highlighted by the contrast between popular perception – many Indians claim an improvement in speech freedoms – and the quantitative ranking that signals a decline.
Comparatively, Scandinavian nations dominate the top of the list (Norway 87.9, Denmark 87.0). Nations such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Pakistan recorded the sharpest gains, yet remained in the lower tier. The report also notes a broader erosion of free‑speech support since 2021 in established democracies including the United States, Israel and Japan.
Jacob Mchangama, executive director of the institute, warns that statutes alone cannot guarantee a vibrant public discourse; a societal commitment to open debate is indispensable.
Key Concepts
- Free Speech Index: A composite metric that aggregates legal protections, societal attitudes, and actual practice of expression across countries.
- Public‑policy criticism tolerance: The degree to which citizens accept questioning or opposing governmental actions without censure.
- Democratic backsliding: A measurable decline in democratic norms, often reflected in curtailed civil liberties and weakened institutions.