Country assessmentResearch confidence: Medium · Evidence coverage: Standard

Vanuatu · 2026

Vanuatu

Open access and plural democratic debate support broad freedom. Pressure and safety risks affecting journalists, privacy gaps, and institutional capacity limit protection.

Finding Scorecard Evidence Sources

Assessment windowJanuary 1–December 31, 2025

Research cutoffJuly 17, 2026

FrameworkMethodology v0.3 · 20 indicators

Territory coverageRepublic of Vanuatu

Finding

Why Vanuatu received this score.

Open access and plural democratic debate support broad freedom. Pressure and safety risks affecting journalists, privacy gaps, and institutional capacity limit protection.

The score draws on country reporting, network measurements, shutdown records, journalist cases, privacy law, and rule-of-law data. The indicator findings below show how that evidence was converted into points. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]

Overall score80.0

Free and Open

This is the weighted total of the four scored pillars.

Highest pillar92.5

Open Internet & Content Controls

No systematic political filtering or state-directed shutdown pattern was established in the reviewed record.

Lowest pillar70.0

Rule of Law & Accountability

Formal remedies exist, but cost, delay, secrecy, or inconsistent enforcement limits their practical value.

Evidence record8

Standard coverage

8 cited sources support this assessment.

Scored assessment

Indicator scores.

Each indicator receives 0–4 points. Five indicators form a pillar. The pillar average is converted to a percentage and multiplied by its published weight.

30% weight

Open Internet & Content Controls

No systematic political filtering or state-directed shutdown pattern was established in the reviewed record.

92.527.8 / 30 points

B1Shutdowns and throttling4.0 / 4

Observed record

Vanuatu: DSP's 2025 shutdown-practice estimate 4/4; social-media shutdown estimate 4/4; OONI measurements and the Access Now shutdown record provide the incident check. [2][3][4]

Scoring judgment

Vanuatu's B1 evidence supports 4.0/4. The record matches the strongest published anchor.

B2Website and service blocking3.5 / 4

Observed record

Vanuatu: Freedom House's 2025 country scorecard recorded media freedom 3/4 and private discussion 4/4; DSP's 2025 political-filtering estimate 4/4; the country OONI dashboard supplies direct network measurements. [3][1]

Scoring judgment

Vanuatu's B2 evidence supports 3.5/4. Protection is strong, with a bounded exception preventing full credit.

B3Removal and filtering orders4.0 / 4

Observed record

Vanuatu: Freedom House's 2025 country scorecard recorded media freedom 3/4 and private discussion 4/4; DSP's 2025 political-content censorship estimate 4/4; online-speech legal protection 4/4. [2][1]

Scoring judgment

Vanuatu's B3 evidence supports 4.0/4. The record matches the strongest published anchor.

B4Intermediary liability3.5 / 4

Observed record

Vanuatu: Freedom House's 2025 country scorecard recorded media freedom 3/4; DSP's online-speech legal protection estimate 4/4; protection against legal abuse by political elites 4/4. [2][1]

Scoring judgment

Vanuatu's B4 evidence supports 3.5/4. Protection is strong, with a bounded exception preventing full credit.

B5Circumvention and cross-border access3.5 / 4

Observed record

Vanuatu: Freedom House's 2025 country scorecard recorded media freedom 3/4 and private discussion 4/4; DSP's political-filtering estimate 4/4; independence from state-controlled social platforms 3/4; OONI and Freedom House records provide the circumvention check. [3][1]

Scoring judgment

Vanuatu's B5 evidence supports 3.5/4. Protection is strong, with a bounded exception preventing full credit.

30% weight

Free Expression & Civic Space

Violence, harassment, or impunity materially limits journalism and civic participation online.

72.521.8 / 30 points

C1Legal protection for expression3.0 / 4

Observed record

Vanuatu: Freedom House's 2025 country scorecard recorded media freedom 3/4 and private discussion 4/4; DSP's online-speech legal protection estimate 4/4; the relevant Freedom House country score 82/100. [1][7]

Scoring judgment

Vanuatu's C1 evidence supports 3.0/4. Protection is generally effective, with recurring but bounded shortcomings.

C2Speech-related offenses3.5 / 4

Observed record

Vanuatu: Freedom House's 2025 country scorecard recorded media freedom 3/4 and due process 3/4; DSP's protection against abuse of defamation and copyright law 4/4; Freedom House country reporting supplies the offense and enforcement record. [2][1]

Scoring judgment

Vanuatu's C2 evidence supports 3.5/4. Protection is strong, with a bounded exception preventing full credit.

C3Arrests and penalties3.0 / 4

Observed record

Vanuatu: Freedom House's 2025 country scorecard recorded due process 3/4 and equal treatment under law 3/4; DSP's 2025 political-arrest estimate 3/3; CPJ and Freedom House records provide the documented case check. [2][5][1]

Scoring judgment

Vanuatu's C3 evidence supports 3.0/4. Protection is generally effective, with recurring but bounded shortcomings.

C4Harassment, violence, and digital attacks2.5 / 4

Observed record

Vanuatu: Freedom House's 2025 country scorecard recorded media freedom 3/4 and equal treatment under law 3/4; CPJ and Freedom House reporting provide the violence, harassment, and accountability record. [5][8][1]

Scoring judgment

Vanuatu's C4 evidence supports 2.5/4. Meaningful safeguards coexist with material restrictions.

C5Civic participation and pluralism2.5 / 4

Observed record

Vanuatu: Freedom House's 2025 country scorecard recorded political choice free from domination 4/4 and assembly freedom 4/4; DSP's online-media pluralism estimate 3/4; ordinary people's online civic-mobilization estimate 1/4. [2][1]

Scoring judgment

Vanuatu's C5 evidence supports 2.5/4. Meaningful safeguards coexist with material restrictions.

20% weight

Privacy, Anonymity & User Security

Privacy law provides meaningful rights, but exemptions, enforcement gaps, or intelligence powers remain material.

82.516.5 / 20 points

D1Data protection rights3.5 / 4

Observed record

Vanuatu: DSP's privacy-law existence measure 1/1; privacy-law constraint on government access 4/4; Privacy law provides meaningful rights, but exemptions, enforcement gaps, or intelligence powers remain material.. [6][1]

Scoring judgment

Vanuatu's D1 evidence supports 3.5/4. Protection is strong, with a bounded exception preventing full credit.

D2Surveillance law and authorization3.0 / 4

Observed record

Vanuatu: Freedom House's 2025 country scorecard recorded judicial independence 4/4 and due process 3/4; DSP's protection from political social-media monitoring 3/4. [1][7]

Scoring judgment

Vanuatu's D2 evidence supports 3.0/4. Protection is generally effective, with recurring but bounded shortcomings.

D3Retention, access, and identity mandates3.5 / 4

Observed record

Vanuatu: Freedom House's 2025 country scorecard recorded private discussion 4/4 and due process 3/4; DSP's privacy-law constraint on government access 4/4; protection from political monitoring 3/4; UNCTAD and Freedom House records provide the retention and identity-law check. [1][6]

Scoring judgment

Vanuatu's D3 evidence supports 3.5/4. Protection is strong, with a bounded exception preventing full credit.

D4Targeted surveillance and spyware3.0 / 4

Observed record

Vanuatu: Freedom House's 2025 country scorecard recorded media freedom 3/4 and equal treatment under law 3/4; DSP's protection from political monitoring 3/4; CPJ and Freedom House reporting provide the targeted-surveillance case record. [5][1]

Scoring judgment

Vanuatu's D4 evidence supports 3.0/4. Protection is generally effective, with recurring but bounded shortcomings.

D5Encryption and anonymity3.5 / 4

Observed record

Vanuatu: Freedom House's 2025 country scorecard recorded private discussion 4/4; DSP's political-filtering estimate 4/4; protection from political monitoring 3/4; OONI and Freedom House records provide the encryption and anonymity check. [3][1]

Scoring judgment

Vanuatu's D5 evidence supports 3.5/4. Protection is strong, with a bounded exception preventing full credit.

20% weight

Rule of Law & Accountability

Formal remedies exist, but cost, delay, secrecy, or inconsistent enforcement limits their practical value.

70.014.0 / 20 points

E1Judicial independence and due process3.0 / 4

Observed record

Vanuatu: Freedom House's 2025 country scorecard recorded judicial independence 4/4 and due process 3/4. [7][1]

Scoring judgment

Vanuatu's E1 evidence supports 3.0/4. Protection is generally effective, with recurring but bounded shortcomings.

E2Independent regulators2.5 / 4

Observed record

Vanuatu: Freedom House's 2025 country scorecard recorded government safeguards against corruption 2/4 and government openness and transparency 3/4. [7][1]

Scoring judgment

Vanuatu's E2 evidence supports 2.5/4. Meaningful safeguards coexist with material restrictions.

E3Government transparency3.0 / 4

Observed record

Vanuatu: Freedom House's 2025 country scorecard recorded government openness and transparency 3/4; Formal remedies exist, but cost, delay, secrecy, or inconsistent enforcement limits their practical value.. [7][1]

Scoring judgment

Vanuatu's E3 evidence supports 3.0/4. Protection is generally effective, with recurring but bounded shortcomings.

E4Notice, appeal, and remedy3.0 / 4

Observed record

Vanuatu: Freedom House's 2025 country scorecard recorded judicial independence 4/4 and due process 3/4. [7][1]

Scoring judgment

Vanuatu's E4 evidence supports 3.0/4. Protection is generally effective, with recurring but bounded shortcomings.

E5Open and multistakeholder policymaking2.5 / 4

Observed record

Vanuatu: Freedom House's 2025 country scorecard recorded elected officials' authority 2/4 and assembly freedom 4/4; DSP's online civic-mobilization estimate 1/4. [2][1]

Scoring judgment

Vanuatu's E5 evidence supports 2.5/4. Meaningful safeguards coexist with material restrictions.

Country findings

Findings by pillar.

These are the principal findings for each scored part of the report. The indicator records above provide the supporting detail.

Pillar B

Open Internet & Content Controls

No systematic political filtering or state-directed shutdown pattern was established in the reviewed record.

[2][3][4]

Pillar C

Free Expression & Civic Space

Violence, harassment, or impunity materially limits journalism and civic participation online.

[2][5][8]

Pillar D

Privacy, Anonymity & User Security

Privacy law provides meaningful rights, but exemptions, enforcement gaps, or intelligence powers remain material.

[6][1]

Pillar E

Rule of Law & Accountability

Formal remedies exist, but cost, delay, secrecy, or inconsistent enforcement limits their practical value.

[7][1]

Research record

Coverage

Republic of Vanuatu, assessed from January 1 through December 31, 2025.

Evidence

Network measurements, legal and institutional datasets, shutdown records, and documented cases support the findings.

Scoring

Twenty indicators measure content openness, expression, privacy, security, and institutional checks under Methodology v0.3.

Read the full methodology →

Source register

Sources used for this report.

Country reporting, open measurements, and cross-national datasets form the report record.

01
Freedom HouseVanuatu: Freedom in the World 2025 country report ↗Civil society · 2025 edition
02
Digital Society ProjectDigital Society Project Dataset v8 ↗Independent measurement · 2000–2025 country-year data
03
Open Observatory of Network InterferenceVanuatu measurement dashboard ↗Independent measurement · Accessed July 17, 2026
04
Access Now and the #KeepItOn coalitionInternet Shutdowns in 2025 Annual Report ↗Civil society · March 2026
05
Committee to Protect Journalists2025 journalist prison census and case database ↗Civil society · January 21, 2026
06
UN Trade and DevelopmentData protection and privacy legislation worldwide ↗International organization · Accessed July 17, 2026
07
World Justice ProjectRule of Law Index 2025 ↗Independent measurement · October 28, 2025
08
Reporters Without BordersWorld Press Freedom Index 2026 ↗Civil society · May 2026