“Press Release: 2026 RDR Index reveals uneven progress and persistent transparency gaps among telecom giants”, June 2026

Ranking Digital Rights (RDR) today launched the 2026 RDR Index: Telco Giants Edition (TGE)…

This year’s Index is RDR’s first assessment since 2022 of 12 of the world’s most powerful telecommunications companies. It examines how these multinationals’ policies and disclosures affect people’s rights to privacy, freedom of expression, and access to information.

Telefónica held on to its top spot for the fourth time in a row, with a score of 57%. MTN and América Móvil catapulted from sixth to second and from seventh to third place, respectively. Their gains mark the first time that any telecom company headquartered in an “emerging market” has ranked among the top three in RDR’s transparency assessments. Ooredoo again placed last, though its overall score crossed into the double digits for the first time.

Nine of the 12 companies improved their overall transparency, particularly in the lower half of the ranking. However, some long-standing frontrunners, largely based in Europe and the United States, showed clear signs of stagnation, and in some cases, declined across key areas. On critical issues such as network shutdowns and government censorship demands, the world’s most powerful telecom giants are less transparent today than they were four years ago…