UK ranked below Israel in new global free expression index

The UK has been ranked below Israel in a new global ranking index tracking the state of free expression.

The Index on Censorship study has the UK ranked in the third tier of the index which suggests the country is only “partially open” in every key area measured.

Israel is placed amongst the second tier nations after each country is given four rankings on academic, digital and media/press freedom, along with an overall score.

In both digital and media freedom categories Israel scored more positively than the UK, and is viewed as a country that is significantly open.

Australia, Austria, Belgium, Costa Rica, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Swedenand, Switzerland were the best performers in the index.

The UK and the US were ranked with countries including Moldova, Panama, Romania, and South Africa.

Bahrain, Belarus, Burma/Myanmar, China, Cuba, NorthKorea, Saudi Arabia, South Sudan, Syria, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen were amongst the worst performing countries.

The lowest performing European Union states were Poland, Bulgaria and Hungary, all ranked in a fourth tier.

Ruth Anderson, Index’s CEO, said: “The findings of the pilot project are illuminating, surprising and concerning in equal measure.

“The United Kingdom ranking may well raise some eyebrows, though is not entirely unexpected.

“You might assume we would be with countries like Australia, Ireland and others, who actually have better protections for freedom of expression. But honestly I think we have taken our eye off the ball.

“It’s a shock, especially in the current environment where people talk a great deal about freedom of expression and use terms like woke.”