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For the fifteenth year in a row, global internet freedom has continued its downward slide — a trend that should concern every society navigating an increasingly digital world. The latest findings from Freedom House show how countries across regions are grappling with balancing security and regulation. This global trajectory matters because it reveals how societies everywhere are renegotiating the boundaries of the digital realm in the modern era.
Pakistan’s latest standing — 27 out of 100 in the Freedom House’s Net 2025 report — should be viewed through this wider global lens. The country, labeled “No Free” in the report, is navigating the same dilemmas that many others face such as how to manage misinformation and evolving cyber risks without constricting legitimate online expression. Some measures noted in the report — from discussions around VPN restrictions to amendments in cybercrime laws — indicates that the state is attempting to keep pace with a digital environment that grows more complex every year.
Service disruptions and connectivity challenges, too, were highlighted, but across the region as well. Neighbouring countries like India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, though ranked as “Partly Free”, also grapple with defining the limits of openness in their own contexts. The bottom line is that no country in South Asia is entirely immune to the push and pull between freedom and oversight. Nations now face the challenge to ensure that regulation does not come at the cost of trust, and that the internet remains a space where commerce and communities can thrive simultaneously.
With technology advancing at an unprecedented scale, the digital world is becoming deeply intertwined with real-world events, forcing states everywhere to reassess how to handle moments when online activity can influence stability on the ground. The global tide may be shifting, but countries still have agency. With careful stewardship and inclusive policymaking, they can shape a future where the internet continues to remain a place of possibility.
