The Deterioration of Academic Freedom (Global Report)

EurekaAlert drew my attention to this new report on the state of academic freedom in the world.  A sample from the news item:

Today, the Academic Freedom Index (AFI) project presents its Update 2023, providing an overview of the state of academic freedom in 179 countries. The decline in academic freedom affects over 50% of the world's population, approximately 4 billion people. The Index identifies 22 countries where universities and scholars experience significantly less academic freedom today than they did ten years ago. This includes democratic systems as well as autocratic countries. During the same period, academic freedom levels have only improved in five small countries, benefiting a mere 0.7% of the world's population. In most countries (152), academic freedom stagnates, often at a far too low level. For the average global citizen, academic freedom is back to a level last registered four decades ago.

I was curious to see how Canada scores, as I have certainly perceived a (negative) shift in the culture of academia in recent years.  Here is a snapshot of Canada's performance. 

In the last 2 years our score on "freedom to teach and research" and "institutional autonomy" has dropped to the levels of 1950. 

Cheers, 

Colin