Short answers, pulled from the story.
Freedom in the World is a yearly survey and report published by Freedom House, a U.S.-based non-governmental organization, that measures civil liberties and political rights in every nation and many related and disputed territories around the world.
Freedom in the World was launched in 1973 by Raymond Gastil.
Freedom in the World scores each country and territory on 25 indicators, 10 covering political rights and 15 covering civil liberties, each rated 0 to 4, for a total that can range from -4 to 100.
Freedom in the World converts a country's political rights and civil liberties scores into 1 to 7 ratings, then averages them to set an overall status of Free for 1.0 to 2.5, Partly Free for 3.0 to 5.0, or Not Free for 5.5 to 7.0.
The 2026 edition of Freedom in the World covers 195 countries, the 193 United Nations member states plus Kosovo and Taiwan, along with 13 separately assessed territories.
Critics including Kenneth A. Bollen, Diego Giannone, and political scientists Andrew T. Little and Anne Meng have raised concerns about the survey's funding, methodology, ideological leanings, and the subjective nature of its scoring. Freedom House maintains its ratings are independent and evidence-based.