Four in ten Costa Ricans say they have held back from sharing their opinions on social media for fear of the consequences, according to a national survey released yesterday by the University of Costa Rica (UCR). The fourth National Survey on Freedom of Expression and Trust in the Media found that 40.1% of respondents have stopped expressing their views online out of fear, down from 46.5% in 2025 and the lowest level since the survey began in 2023.
For the first time, a majority, 56.2%, said they had not held back, after that figure hovered around 48% in the three previous editions. The survey does not specify what respondents fear, whether criticism, harassment, consequences at work or something else. Women were more likely to stay silent. After controlling for age, education and political attitudes, researchers found that women were 10 percentage points more likely than men to say they avoid expressing opinions on social media.
The findings matter because social media has become the main way Costa Ricans follow national news. According to the survey, 70.7% regularly or always use social networks to stay informed, compared with 46.2% who often watch television newscasts. The gap between the two has widened since 2025, when social media first overtook television, and radio news now ranks last.
Perceptions of free speech in general also improved. The share of people who believe freedom of expression is at risk in Costa Rica fell to 54.7%, from 73.4% in 2025. This year’s edition is the first carried out since President Laura Fernández took office in May 2026. According to the survey, 60.1% now believe the government respects freedom of expression, the highest share recorded by the study.
Trust in the press rose sharply. For the first time since the survey began, a majority of respondents, 56.2%, said they trust the news media, up from 43.4% in 2025, 35.6% in 2024 and 32.6% in 2023. Trust in journalists themselves reached 71.5%, the highest in the survey’s four editions.
At the same time, 58.1% said working as a journalist in Costa Rica is dangerous, the highest share since the question was first asked and up from 48% in 2023. The finding comes amid broader scrutiny of press freedom in Costa Rica. The survey also points to the reach of misinformation. One in three respondents, 33.5%, admitted recently believing information that later turned out to be false, up from 28.1% in 2025. Facebook was the platform most often cited as the source, followed by TikTok and WhatsApp.
Looking back at the 2026 election campaign, 49% said they had come across false content about presidential candidates and 43% about the Supreme Elections Tribunal. The study was carried out by UCR’s Freedom of Expression and Right to Information Program (PROLEDI), together with the university’s Communication Research Center (CICOM) and Center for Political Research and Studies (CIEP).
Researchers interviewed 993 adults with mobile phones, selected at random, between Sept. 2 and 14, 2026. The maximum margin of error is 3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. Taken together, the results show fewer Costa Ricans censoring themselves online than a year ago, while a substantial share still hesitate to speak freely in the digital spaces where most of the country now gets its news.
