“Freedom in the World 2021 Report” Downgrades India’s Ranking

“Freedom in the World 2021 Report” Downgrades India’s Ranking

Recently, Freedom House releases the report titled “Freedom in the World 2021 – Democracy under Siege”. Published since 1973, ‘Freedom in the World’ assesses the condition of political rights and civil liberties around the world.

What is Freedom House?

Freedom House is a U.S.-based non-profit non-governmental organization (NGO) that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom, and human rights. It was founded in October 1941, and Wendell Willkie and Eleanor Roosevelt served as its first honorary chairpersons.

What is the Objective of Freedom House?

The organization conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom, and human rights. The organization's annual Freedom in the World report, which assesses each country's degree of political freedoms and civil liberties, is frequently cited by political scientists, journalists, and policymakers.

What is Freedom in the World Report?

Freedom in the World is a yearly survey and report by the Freedom House that measures the degree of civil liberties and political rights in every nation and significant related and disputed territories around the world. Freedom in the World was launched in 1973 by Raymond Gastil.

It produces annual scores representing the levels of political rights and civil liberties in each state and territory, on a scale from 1 (most free) to 7 (least free).

Depending on the ratings, the nations are then classified as "Free", "Partly Free", or "Not Free".

The report is often used by researchers in order to measure democracy and correlates highly with several other measures of democracy such as the Polity data series.

The Freedom House rankings are widely reported in the media and used as sources by political researchers. Their construction and use has been evaluated by critics and supporters.

The countries are awarded scores based on (i) Political rights indicators such as the electoral process, political pluralism and participation, and government functioning and (ii) Civil liberties indicators are related to freedom of expression and belief, associational and organizational rights, the rule of law and personal autonomy, and individual rights.

About Freedom in the World Report 2021

There is a decline in global democracy over the last 15 years. Nearly 75% of the world’s population lived in a country that faced deterioration over the last year.

Finland, Norway, and Sweden are the most free countries in the world, with a score of 100. While the least free countries are Tibet and Syria, with a score of 1.

The 2021 edition covers developments in 195 countries and 15 territories from January 1, 2020, through December 31, 2020.

India’s Rank in Freedom in the World Report 2021

India’s rank has fallen from 83 to 88 out of 195 countries and 15 territories. India’s score decreased from 71 to 67. India’s status has been downgraded from ‘Free’ to ‘Partly Free’.

The Freedom House report has listed “Indian Kashmir” separately and retained its status as last year of “not free”. The score fell from 28 to 27.

India’s Internet Freedom Score has stayed at 51. However, the report has stated that Internet freedom in India has declined dramatically for a third straight year. It is due to reasons like Internet shutdowns, blocked content, misinformation spread by political leaders, online harassment among others.

The report has highlighted the following reasons for the downgrade:

• Use of the sedition law and other charges in recent years to deter free speech
• Government’s coronavirus response including the lockdown.
• The migrant crisis and violent and discriminatory enforcement by police and civilian vigilantes
• Attack on Minorities
• The decrease in Judicial Independence among others.