In its annual Freedom on the Net 2026 report released on Thursday, Freedom House rated Cuba with a mere 19 out of 100 points, a decrease of two points from the previous year. This keeps Cuba firmly in the "Not Free" category regarding digital freedom.
The score is broken down into three components: Cuba received 5 out of a possible 25 points for obstacles to access, 9 out of 35 for content limitations, and 5 out of 40 for violations of user rights.
The drop from 21 points in 2025 erases the slight improvement seen then and places Cuba at a new low, ranking just above Russia (16/100), and significantly behind China, Iran, and Myanmar (each scoring 9/100) among the 38 countries evaluated.
Entitled "Seismic Shifts on the Global Internet," the report was published on October 22 and examines the period from June 2025 to May 2026.
Freedom House attributes Cuba's decline to a combination of three factors: an energy crisis, increased costs for internet access, and repression against social media users.
The Impact of Energy and Economic Strains
Prolonged nationwide blackouts severely disrupted connectivity during the analyzed period. Documented data suggests that power outages rendered approximately 47.5% of mobile radio bases and 56.5% of telecommunications cabinets non-operational, as backup batteries can only sustain the network for a few hours.
A major blackout in March 2026 led to a 65% drop in internet traffic, with recovery taking around 29 hours.
Rising Costs and Digital Repression
The cost of services has also skyrocketed: In May 2025, ETECSA—the sole mobile service provider in Cuba—capped reloads in Cuban pesos to 360 CUP monthly, pushing users towards foreign currency packages, effectively increasing the cost of mobile internet by a factor of 13.
Regarding digital repression, the metric assessing the ability to mobilize and campaign online decreased from three to two points. Freedom House notes that this reflects the prosecution of multiple individuals who received lengthy prison terms, including a 14-year sentence, for organizing protests on social media during the covered period.
Documented cases include activist Alexander Verdecia, sentenced to seven years for social media posts, and a journalist who received a six-year sentence for protesting, as reported by the Committee to Protect Journalists. In May 2026, Yasser García López was sentenced to five years for his Facebook posts.
State Surveillance and Internet Censorship
Additionally, the report highlights that ETECSA "apparently facilitated" the hacking of social media accounts and communications of activists, opposition figures, and independent journalists, reducing the relevant indicator to zero.
Freedom House clarifies this is based on their assessment, not a judicial finding. State control over the network and verification messages could allow interception of authentication codes.
A January 2026 Prisoners Defenders report on digital surveillance in Cuba, based on 200 testimonies, found that 98.5% of participants experienced reprisals linked to digital activities, with nearly half reporting unauthorized access to their accounts.
At least 23 independent Cuban media sites remained blocked in 2026, including 14ymedio, CubaNet, Diario de Cuba, El Toque, and CubaHeadlines.
This Cuban deterioration aligns with a global trend: According to Freedom House's official statement, global internet freedom fell for the sixteenth consecutive year, with conditions worsening in 16 of the 38 countries assessed, and improving in only eight.
"Authoritarian regimes are reshaping the internet as a system of control, deciding who can connect, what they can see, and if they can be heard," warned Kian Vesteinsson, the report's author and Freedom House's Deputy Director of Research.
"After 16 years of decline, democracies must lead the charge for a free and open internet. Dictators invest in keeping people disconnected. We must invest in making censorship fail."
Understanding Cuba's Decline in Internet Freedom
What are the main reasons for Cuba's lower internet freedom score?
Cuba's score dropped due to an energy crisis, increased internet access costs, and government repression of social media users.
How did power outages affect internet access in Cuba?
Prolonged power outages disrupted connectivity, leaving nearly half of mobile radio bases and telecommunications cabinets out of service.
What role did ETECSA play in the decline of digital freedom?
ETECSA increased internet costs significantly and allegedly facilitated the hacking of social media accounts of activists and journalists.