The control of online speech is seen as a guarantor of political dominance, both for the party and its leader
Tyrant of the year 2025: Narendra Modi
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CATEGORY: Campaigns
Tyrant of the year 2025: Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
A further crackdown on dissent this year continues the Supreme Leader’s bloody rule
Tyrant of the year 2025: Benjamin Netanyahu
Some argue that Israel has crossed into authoritarianism under the country’s prime minister
Tyrant of the year 2025: John Lee
Hong Kong has gone from one of the most open cities in Asia to one of its least
Tyrant of the year 2025: Nayib Armando Bukele
El Salvador has the highest prisoner rate worldwide and the president likes it that way
Tyrant of the year 2025: Samia Suluhu Hassan
Magufuli the Bulldozer’s successor is turning out to be more of the same
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 crack down on freedom of expression this year
Tyrant of the year 2025: Donald Trump
Will the US President win this accolade to add to his FIFA Peace Prize?
China media giant Tencent gags anti-censorship website FreeWeChat
The website of anti-censorship organisation GreatFire.org’s platform dedicated to exposing Chinese government censorship of WeChat is taken offline by US hosting provider Vultr
New report: Breaking encryption is legally and practically unworkable
Publication sets out our position on why governments should not break end-to-end encryption (E2EE), widely used to protect dissidents
Petitions, letters, and press releases from Index on Censorship