— Edition 1.247 33 verified trackers
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Politics · Technology · Digital regulation  ·  where data speaks before headlines
Snapshot data
AML/OFAC enforcement against banks and fintech — 455 penalties documented 455 AML/OFAC penalties documented across 177 countries and 401 regula… CNMC Spain · the Digital Services Coordinator g… — 6 documented milestones 6 milestones in Spain's DSA Coordinator rollout; as of May 2026 still… Corporate data breaches: from incident to response — 7 breaches documented 7 corporate data breaches documented by notification conduct and outc… Digital regulatory risk index by country — 16 countries profiled 16 countries profiled by digital regulatory risk (coverage expanded w… DMA · designated gatekeepers and real compliance — 8 documented DMA acts 8 acts in the DMA gatekeeper regime: 7 designated, first final fines … Global election risk 2026: democracy and digita… — 22 elections profiled 22 2026 elections profiled by political regime (EIU) and digital envi… Electoral digital integrity 2026 — 13 elections profiled 13 elections profiled by digital integrity; 5 with transparent politi… Documented electoral disinformation 2026 — 5 documented campaigns 5 electoral disinformation campaigns or patterns documented with open… GDPR · which national authority really sanctions — 9 authorities profiled 9 national authorities profiled; ~€7.1bn in GDPR fines since 2018, bu… Digital political ad spending 2026 — 5 country-platform observ… 5 observations of digital political ad spending in 2026 elections, me… US · the state AI regulation patchwork — 8 laws and milestones 8 laws and milestones in the US AI patchwork; with no comprehensive f… Climate: the gap between pledge and action — 12 countries assessed 12 countries assessed by the Climate Action Tracker: 10 with insuffic… Power and corruption in the courts in Ibero-Ame… — 29 documented cases 29 senior officials prosecuted for corruption across 19 countries, wi… Crypto industry: collapses, sanctions and convi… — 10 documented cases 10 crypto-sector collapse, sanction and conviction cases across 4 cou… Content moderation: appeals and reversals — 19 documented decisions 19 appealed and reviewed moderation decisions, with their policy, ori… AI harms in court — litigation, rulings and set… — 100 documented cases 100 litigated AI-harm cases across 25 jurisdictions on 5 continents, … Public AI spending — global government contracts — 50 documented contracts 50 public AI contracts across 15 jurisdictions on 5 continents (45 wi… Scandal → conviction gap — — milestones logged Series starting — Odebrecht/Lava Jato as base case Technology ↔ regulation gap — 25 regulatory milestones 25 milestones across 11 jurisdictions; gaps from 0 to 22 years; Chile… Campaign promises → fulfillment — 29 term evaluations 29 terms evaluated across 25 countries on five continents Digital fines actually imposed — 60 sanctions recorded 60 high-value sanctions across 17 jurisdictions and 6 continents; cov… EU AI Act — designation of national authorities — 3 / 27 Member States Art. 70 deadline expired 2 Aug 2025 — process still open AI Act · Notified bodies for conformity assessment — 1 body with AI-specific a… Designation process opened 2 Aug 2025 · high-risk deadline Aug 2026 AI Act · Sanctions regime and its actual enforc… — 0 documented AI Act fines… Only 3 of 27 MS with both authorities designated by early 2026 EU · Consolidated DSA enforcement decisions — €120M first DSA fine · X · 5 … 5 Member States referred to CJEU for insufficient DSC implementation LATAM · Digital spending in 2026 electoral camp… — $14.794M COP · highest declared … Only 8 of 13 campaigns had reported in Cuentas Claras by mid-May Ibero-America · documented public contracts wit… — 3 contracts verified with… DC registry kickoff · ongoing monthly manual sweep LATAM · Internet shutdowns and platform blocks — 7 documented events · 202… Venezuela concentrates the region's most severe blocks LATAM · Judicial and regulatory sanctions on pl… — $5,2M USD · fine on X Corp. i… X complied with the orders and was reinstated after 39 days of suspen… Commercial spyware: documented cases worldwide — 22 documented cases 22 verified commercial-spyware cases across 12 countries on four cont… RSF · Press freedom in Latin America — 144 worst regional rank (Pe… AR -11 · PE -14 · SV -8 · EC -31 · USA -7 LATAM · AI bills in legislative process — 150+ bills identified Niubox January 2026 — only 4 Iberoamerican countries with law in force AML/OFAC enforcement against banks and fintech — 455 penalties documented 455 AML/OFAC penalties documented across 177 countries and 401 regula… CNMC Spain · the Digital Services Coordinator g… — 6 documented milestones 6 milestones in Spain's DSA Coordinator rollout; as of May 2026 still… Corporate data breaches: from incident to response — 7 breaches documented 7 corporate data breaches documented by notification conduct and outc… Digital regulatory risk index by country — 16 countries profiled 16 countries profiled by digital regulatory risk (coverage expanded w… DMA · designated gatekeepers and real compliance — 8 documented DMA acts 8 acts in the DMA gatekeeper regime: 7 designated, first final fines … Global election risk 2026: democracy and digita… — 22 elections profiled 22 2026 elections profiled by political regime (EIU) and digital envi… Electoral digital integrity 2026 — 13 elections profiled 13 elections profiled by digital integrity; 5 with transparent politi… Documented electoral disinformation 2026 — 5 documented campaigns 5 electoral disinformation campaigns or patterns documented with open… GDPR · which national authority really sanctions — 9 authorities profiled 9 national authorities profiled; ~€7.1bn in GDPR fines since 2018, bu… Digital political ad spending 2026 — 5 country-platform observ… 5 observations of digital political ad spending in 2026 elections, me… US · the state AI regulation patchwork — 8 laws and milestones 8 laws and milestones in the US AI patchwork; with no comprehensive f… Climate: the gap between pledge and action — 12 countries assessed 12 countries assessed by the Climate Action Tracker: 10 with insuffic… Power and corruption in the courts in Ibero-Ame… — 29 documented cases 29 senior officials prosecuted for corruption across 19 countries, wi… Crypto industry: collapses, sanctions and convi… — 10 documented cases 10 crypto-sector collapse, sanction and conviction cases across 4 cou… Content moderation: appeals and reversals — 19 documented decisions 19 appealed and reviewed moderation decisions, with their policy, ori… AI harms in court — litigation, rulings and set… — 100 documented cases 100 litigated AI-harm cases across 25 jurisdictions on 5 continents, … Public AI spending — global government contracts — 50 documented contracts 50 public AI contracts across 15 jurisdictions on 5 continents (45 wi… Scandal → conviction gap — — milestones logged Series starting — Odebrecht/Lava Jato as base case Technology ↔ regulation gap — 25 regulatory milestones 25 milestones across 11 jurisdictions; gaps from 0 to 22 years; Chile… Campaign promises → fulfillment — 29 term evaluations 29 terms evaluated across 25 countries on five continents Digital fines actually imposed — 60 sanctions recorded 60 high-value sanctions across 17 jurisdictions and 6 continents; cov… EU AI Act — designation of national authorities — 3 / 27 Member States Art. 70 deadline expired 2 Aug 2025 — process still open AI Act · Notified bodies for conformity assessment — 1 body with AI-specific a… Designation process opened 2 Aug 2025 · high-risk deadline Aug 2026 AI Act · Sanctions regime and its actual enforc… — 0 documented AI Act fines… Only 3 of 27 MS with both authorities designated by early 2026 EU · Consolidated DSA enforcement decisions — €120M first DSA fine · X · 5 … 5 Member States referred to CJEU for insufficient DSC implementation LATAM · Digital spending in 2026 electoral camp… — $14.794M COP · highest declared … Only 8 of 13 campaigns had reported in Cuentas Claras by mid-May Ibero-America · documented public contracts wit… — 3 contracts verified with… DC registry kickoff · ongoing monthly manual sweep LATAM · Internet shutdowns and platform blocks — 7 documented events · 202… Venezuela concentrates the region's most severe blocks LATAM · Judicial and regulatory sanctions on pl… — $5,2M USD · fine on X Corp. i… X complied with the orders and was reinstated after 39 days of suspen… Commercial spyware: documented cases worldwide — 22 documented cases 22 verified commercial-spyware cases across 12 countries on four cont… RSF · Press freedom in Latin America — 144 worst regional rank (Pe… AR -11 · PE -14 · SV -8 · EC -31 · USA -7 LATAM · AI bills in legislative process — 150+ bills identified Niubox January 2026 — only 4 Iberoamerican countries with law in force
/ trackers / rsf-latam-press-freedom
LATAM · Press freedom

RSF · Press freedom in Latin America

Position of Latin American and Caribbean countries in the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) World Press Freedom Index, published annually. RSF ranks 180 territories using a methodology that combines five indicators: political, legal, economic, sociocultural, and safety contexts. Diálogo Ciudadano aggregates country-by-country data for the region and publishes the regional median with explicit methodology. The region has fallen 14 points since 2022, a drop comparable to Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

Snapshot · April 30, 2026
144
worst regional rank (Peru)
↓ AR -11 · PE -14 · SV -8 · EC -31 · USA -7

Evolution

Data analysis

Statistical readings derived from the attributes of each recorded case. All figures come from the documented events; amounts are computed only over cases with a sum expressed in the indicated currency, without converting between currencies.

World Press Freedom ranking (RSF 2026)

Each country's position in Reporters Without Borders' World Press Freedom Index. A lower number means a better position; only countries with a verified figure in the RSF 2026 coverage are shown.

Reading the data

RSF's index places press freedom in Latin America in a fragile position. This tracker records the regional classification as an annual reference point to contextualise the rest of the indicators on surveillance, internet shutdowns and platform sanctions.

CT
Celinda S. Tórrez · Correspondent — Colombia · Bogotá
June 10, 2026 · 2 min read

Press freedom is the backdrop against which almost all the other trackers in this ecosystem make sense: spyware against journalists, internet shutdowns during protests, platform sanctions. This indicator records Reporters Without Borders' (RSF) classification for Latin America as an annual reference, not as an end in itself.

It is deliberately austere —a categorical reading of the regional situation— because its function is contextual: to provide the frame in which to interpret the more granular data of the other trackers. A region with the press under pressure is also a region where surveillance, shutdowns and platform sanctions weigh more heavily on public debate.

Methodology note

The indicator records RSF's classification for the region in its corresponding edition. It is a context reference; the full methodology is that of RSF's own index. The classification is attributed to RSF, never to an assessment of our own.

Methodology

Type
categorical
Construction
Single-source aggregation
Cadence
annual

Sources consulted

  1. RSF · 2026 Index: press freedom at a 25-year low ↗ civil-society

    Official RSF publication of the 2026 World Index. Data cut-off April 2026. Full methodology published at rsf.org/en/methodology.

  2. RSF · 2025 World Press Freedom Index ↗ civil-society

    2025 edition of the index published on 2 May 2025. Documents a decline in 22 of 28 countries in the Americas on the economic indicator.

  3. World Media Group · Resumen Índice RSF 2026 ↗ press

    Summary of the 2026 edition focused on regional changes in the Americas.

  4. LatAm Journalism Review · Knight Center · análisis RSF 2025 ↗ academic

    Knight Center academic coverage with aggregated regional data and an interview with RSF's Latin America director Artur Romeu.