Palestinian cause accounts for 10% of global free speech restrictions, reveals report

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region remains a focal point, described as home to some of the most repressive governments globally, where such practices are most prevalent. All 18 countries in the MENA region, said Civicus, including occupied Palestine, were classified as having “obstructed”, “repressed” or “closed” civic spaces. These represent the bottom three tiers in the organisation’s five-category assessment. Israel, Lebanon and Morocco were ranked as “obstructed”. Meanwhile, most Gulf nations, along with Egypt and Iran, were categorised as “closed”.
The report accused the authorities in Israel and Jordan of using legal frameworks to target individuals expressing solidarity with Palestinians, particularly through anti-war protests and social media. In Israel, journalists and media outlets faced intensified restrictions, including the military-ordered closure of Al Jazeera’s West Bank office and the J-Media Agency.
Israeli police brutality and arbitrary arrests were also noted during weekly protests by Israeli citizens demanding the release of hostages held by Hamas since October last year. While fewer than 100 captives are believed to remain in Gaza, Israel’s ongoing war has killed at least 44,750 Palestinians, mostly women and children.
The Civicus report highlighted further stark disparities in civic freedoms across the Americas, with only a handful of countries classified as “open”. Among the region’s largest economies, only Canada and Uruguay maintain “open” civic spaces, alongside several smaller island nations in the West Indies. The United States, however, is ranked as “narrowed”.
“Since October 2023, the USA has seen one of the largest displays of support for Palestinian people in recent history, expressed through an unprecedented wave of solidarity protests,” said the report. “This surge in protests has been met with a heavy-handed and violent response.”
In April and May 2024 alone, over 3,200 university students, faculty and staff, as well as journalists were detained during campus raids. Many, explained the report, were accused of providing “material support for terrorism, despite a lack of evidence, and have proposed discriminatory actions such as visa cancellations and deportations.”
Furthermore, it found that 71 per cent of the world’s population now live in societies classified as “repressed” or “closed”, and only 2.1 per cent live in “open” societies.
Civicus urged governments, international bodies and private sector stakeholders to repeal restrictive legislation that targets civil society, journalists and human rights defenders. The report also called for “adequate consultations” before drafting laws, ensuring free and reliable internet access during crises, and condemned threats, intimidation and the stigmatisation of activists and “members of excluded groups.”