Free to Think 2026 – Swedish launch at Malmö University
Academic freedom
Education and learning
On 13 October, Scholars at Risk’s annual report Free to Think 2026 will be launched in Sweden. The report documents and analyses attacks on higher education and academic freedom around the world.
Seminar
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Free to Think 2026
This year’s report documents 382 attacks on higher education communities across 59 countries and territories—representing only a tip-of-the-iceberg sampling of all attacks during the year. Violent state repression and government interference in university autonomy lead the global decline in academic freedom. Together, these actions coerce scholars into self-censorship and erode the vital role universities play in fostering independent inquiry and democratic discourse for the good of society.
- Authorities in China, Russia, Iran, and Pakistan attacked, disappeared, and wrongfully imprisoned higher education community members while cracking down violently on student protests.
- Governments in Afghanistan, India, Serbia, and the United States used their executive, legislative, and regulatory powers to inhibit universities’ abilities to govern their own curricula, administrative functions, and physical campuses.