United States Added to CIVICUS Monitor Watchlist for Eroding Civic Freedoms

Johannesburg/Washington, D.C. — The global civil society alliance CIVICUS has placed the United States of America on its Monitor Watchlist today, citing “sustained attacks on civil freedoms” during the first six months of President Donald Trump’s second term.

As part of the July 2025 Watchlist, the U.S. joins a group of nations including Turkey, Kenya, Serbia, and El Salvador, reflecting serious concerns over democratic backsliding

Key concerns highlighted by CIVICUS include:

• Deployment of 2,700 military personnel, including 700 Marines and 2,000 National Guard troops, to Los Angeles in June to suppress peaceful protests over ICE immigration raids

• Restriction and suppression of journalists, including the arrest of Salvadoran reporter Mario Guevara covering protests and tighter control over presidential briefing access

• Defunding of critical public media institutions like PBS and NPR via Congress in July through the first rollback of pre-approved public funding in decades

• Targeted reprisals against pro-Palestinian activists, including international students facing visa revocations or deportation, illustrating the criminalization of peaceful advocacy

CIVICUS maintains a five-tier civic space rating system: open, narrowed, obstructed, repressed, and closed. The U.S has been rated “NARROWED”, indicating that while freedoms like expression and assembly exist, violations are increasing.

“The United States appears to be sliding deeper into the quicksands of authoritarianism. Peaceful protests are confronted with military force, critics are treated as criminals, journalists are targeted, and support for civil society and international cooperation have been cut back,” said CIVICUS Secretary General Mandeep Tiwana.

This follows the U.S being initially added to the March 2025 Watchlist, when CIVICUS flagged rapid civic space deterioration tied to executive overreach, dismantling of USAID, freezes on federal and foreign aid, and restrictions on DEI programming. In that March release, Tiwana warned the U.S government was dismantling essential democratic institutions and chilling dissent across civic society.

CIVICUS calls on U.S. authorities to immediately uphold First Amendment rights, reverse undemocratic trends, and restore the integrity of civic and media institutions.