Who is 2025's Tyrant of the Year?

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Who is 2025’s Tyrant of the Year?

Choose from our shortlist of 10 authoritarian leaders and vote on who you think has done most to crackdown on freedom of expression this year

By Index on Censorship

09 Dec 25

Who is your Tyrant of the Year 2025?

At the end of every year, Index on Censorship launches a campaign to focus attention on human rights defenders, dissidents, artists and journalists who have been in the news headlines because their freedom of expression has been suppressed during the past twelve months. As well as this we focus on the authoritarian leaders who have been silencing their opponents.

This year we see the return of an old favourite.

Jemimah Steinfeld, CEO of Index on Censorship, said, "After a couple of years’ rest, Tyrant of the Year is back. We’re reviving our most popular end-of-year campaign at a moment when leaders around the world seem ever more determined to silence criticism. In the spirit of the satirists we so often champion in the pages of Index, we’re leaning in and poking fun at these leaders. After all, thin-skinned officials loathe mockery because, as Mark Twain said, “Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand". But let’s be clear: Tyrant of the Year isn’t about downplaying the real harm caused by the actions that put them on the list. The reality is stark: the world is getting worse for free expression, and some countries now featured were unthinkable additions only a few years ago."

She added: "A note on the list too: it highlights those who have escalated attacks on free expression this year, not necessarily the world’s absolute worst offenders (that grim crown is hard to pry from the likes of Xi Jinping, Nicolás Maduro, Isaias Afwerki, Aliaksandr Lukashenka or Kim Jong Un). We’ve chosen people whose actions in 2025 have delivered fresh shocks, sudden crackdowns or moved a region further away from pluralism and respect for free speech."

The polls are now open for the title of 2025 Tyrant of the Year and we are focusing on 10 leaders from around the globe who have done more during the past 12 months than others to win this dubious accolade. Previous winners of the Tyrant of the Year have been Andrés Manuel López Obrador from Mexico and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey.

The ten contenders for Tyrant of the Year 2025 are (in alphabetical order by country). Click on the links to find out whay they have made our shortlist:

Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, Afghanistan
Nayib Armando Bukele, El Salvador
John Lee, Hong Kong
Viktor Orbán, Hungary
Narendra Modi, India
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel
Vladimir Putin, Russia
Samia Suluhua Hassan, Tanzania
Donald Trump, USA

So dive in. Read what they've done. Vote. And if you want the winner delivered straight to you in early January, sign up to our newsletter - you’ll be the first to know who claims the crown no one wants.

To cast your vote, click on their face below to highlight your chosen tyrant and then click on the Vote button.

The closing date is Monday 5 January 2026.

At Index on Censorship, we believe everyone deserves the right to speak freely, challenge power and share ideas without fear. In a world where governments tighten control and algorithms distort the truth, defending those rights is more urgent than ever.

But free speech is not free. Instead we rely on readers like you to keep our journalism independent, our advocacy sharp and our support for writers, artists and dissidents strong.