"The great majority of people in the world cannot raise their hand and speak freely," said Dagmar Pruin, president of Brot für die Welt (Bread of the World), at the presentation of the organization's annual report on the state of civil society and democracy on Monday.
"Even in Germany, some narratives are being purposely buried," she added, giving the example of how "criticism of right-wing extremism is discredited as ideological."
The report, the Atlas of Civil Society, is published annually by Brot für die Welt — an organization supported by Protestant churches in Germany that focuses on combating global hunger and promoting sustainable development in the Global South — in cooperation with partner organizations. This year's report focuses in particular on disinformation as a global phenomenon.
Germany now ranked as having 'limited' openness
According to this year's Atlas of Civil Society, which examines worldwide trends related to NGOs, protest movements, and media freedom, only 3.4% of the world's population lives in truly open societies, where 30.7% lived in completely closed, authoritarian circumstances.
