This list of Internet censorship and surveillance in the Americas provides information on the types and levels of Internet censorship and surveillance that is occurring in countries in the Americas.

Detailed country by country information on Internet censorship and surveillance is provided in the Freedom on the Net reports from Freedom House, by the OpenNet Initiative, by Reporters Without Borders, and in the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices from the U.S. State Department Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. The ratings produced by several of these organizations are summarized below as well as in the Censorship by country article.

Classifications

The level of Internet censorship and surveillance in a country is classified in one of the four categories: pervasive, substantial, selective, and little or no censorship or surveillance. The classifications are based on the classifications and ratings from the Freedom on the Net reports by Freedom House supplemented with information from the OpenNet Initiative (ONI), Reporters Without Borders (RWB), and the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices by the U.S. State Department Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor.

Pervasive censorship or surveillance: A country is classified as engaged in pervasive censorship or surveillance when it often censors political, social, and other content, is engaged in mass surveillance of the Internet, and retaliates against citizens who circumvent censorship or surveillance with imprisonment or other sanctions. A country is included in the "pervasive" category when it: is rated as "not free" with a total score of 71 to 100 in the Freedom on the Net (FOTN) report from Freedom House, is rated "not free" in FOTN or is not rated in FOTN and is included on the "Internet enemies" list from Reporters Without Borders, or when the OpenNet Initiative categorizes the level of Internet filtering as pervasive in any of the four areas (political, social, conflict/security, and Internet tools) for which they test.

Substantial censorship or surveillance: Countries included in this classification are engaged in substantial Internet censorship and surveillance. This includes countries where a number of categories are subject to a medium level of filtering or many categories are subject to a low level of filtering. A country is included in the "substantial" category when it: is not included in the "pervasive" category, and is rated as "not free" in the Freedom on the Net (FOTN) report from Freedom House, or is rated "partly free" or is not rated in FOTN, and is included on the "Internet enemies" list from Reporters Without Borders,List of the 13 Internet enemies Reporters Without Borders (Paris), 11 July 2006. or when the OpenNet Initiative categorizes the level of Internet filtering as pervasive or substantial in any of the four areas (political, social, conflict/security, and Internet tools) for which they test.

Selective censorship or surveillance: Countries included in this classification were found to practice selective Internet censorship and surveillance. This includes countries where a small number of specific sites are blocked or censorship targets a small number of categories or issues. A country is included in the "selective" category when it: is not included in the "pervasive" or "substantial" categories, and is rated as "partly free" in the Freedom on the Net (FOTN) report from Freedom House, or is included on the "Internet enemies" list from Reporters Without Borders, or is not rated in FOTN and the OpenNet Initiative categorizes the level of Internet filtering as selective in any of the four areas (political, social, conflict/security, and Internet tools) for which they test.

Little or no censorship or surveillance: A country is included in the "little or no censorship or surveillance" category when it is not included in the "pervasive", "substantial" or "selective" categories.

This classification includes countries that are listed as "free" on the Freedom on the Net list from Freedom House, are not listed as "Enemies of the Internet" by Reporters Without Borders (RWB), and for which no evidence of Internet filtering was found by the OpenNet Initiative (ONI) in any of the four areas (political, social, conflict/security, and Internet tools) for which they test. Other controls such as voluntary filtering, self-censorship, and other types of public or private action to limit child pornography, hate speech, defamation, or theft of intellectual property often exist. The various nation sections, below, include ratings by ONI, RWB, etc.

Pervasive censorship or surveillance

Cuba

Rated "not free" in Freedom on the Net by Freedom House in 2009 (score 88), 2011 (score 87), 2012 (score 86), 2013 (score 86), 2014 (score 84), 2015 (score 81), 2016 (score 79), 2017 (score 79), and 2018 (score 79)."Cuba", Freedom on the Net 2009, Freedom House, 2009. Retrieved 13 June 2015."Cuba" , Freedom on the Net 2011, Freedom House, 2011. Retrieved 13 June 2015."Cuba", Freedom on the Net 2012, Freedom House, 2012. Retrieved 13 June 2015."Cuba", Freedom on the Net 2013, Freedom House, 2013. Retrieved 13 June 2015. Listed as an Internet enemy by RWB in 2011. Not categorized by ONI due to lack of data.

Cuba has the lowest ratio of computers per inhabitant in Latin America, and the lowest internet access ratio of all the Western hemisphere. Citizens have to use government controlled "access points", where their activity is monitored through IP blocking, keyword filtering and browsing history checking. The government cites its citizens' access to internet services are limited due to high costs and the American embargo, but there are reports concerning the will of the government to control access to uncensored information both from and to the outer world. The Cuban government continues to imprison independent journalists for contributing reports through the Internet to web sites outside of Cuba.

Even with the lack of precise figures due to the secretive nature of the regime, testimonials from independent bloggers, activists, and international watchers support the view that it is difficult for most people to access the web and that harsh punishments for individuals that do not follow government policies are the norm. The Committee to Protect Journalists has pointed to Cuba as one of the ten most censored countries around the world.

Substantial censorship or surveillance

Venezuela

Rated "partly free" by Freedom House in Freedom on the Net in 2011 (score 46), 2012 (score 48), 2013 (score 53), 2014 (score 56), and 2015 (score 57) and "not free" in 2016 (score 60), 2017 (score 63), and 2018 (score 66)."Venezuela", Freedom on the Net 2011, Freedom House. Retrieved 13 June 2015."Venezuela", Freedom on the Net 2012, Freedom House. Retrieved 13 June 2015."Venezuela", Freedom on the Net 2013, Freedom House. Retrieved 13 June 2015. Classified by ONI as no evidence of Internet filtering in the political, social, conflict/security, and Internet tools areas in October 2012.

In December 2010, the government of Venezuela approved a law named "Social Responsibility in Radio, Television and Electronic Media" (Ley de Responsabilidad Social en Radio, Televisión y Medios Electrónicos). The law is intended to exercise control over content that could "entice felonies", "create social distress", or "question the legitimate constituted authority". The law indicates that the website's owners will be responsible for any information and contents published, and that they will have to create mechanisms that could restrict without delay the distribution of content that could go against the aforementioned restrictions. The fines for individuals who break the law will be of the 10% of the person's last year's income. The law was received with criticism from the opposition on the grounds that it is a violation of freedom of speech protections stipulated in the Venezuelan constitution, and that it encourages censorship and self-censorship."Aprueban ley que regula contenidos de Internet y medios en Venezuela (new law regulates contents on the internet in Venezuela) , El Tiempo.com, 20 December 2010

In November 2013 the Venezuelan telecommunications regulator, CONATEL, began ordering ISPs to block websites that provide the black market exchange rate. ISPs must comply within 24 hours or face sanctions, which could include the loss of their concessions. Within a month ISPs had restricted access to more than 100 URLs. The order is based on Venezuela's 2004 media law which makes it illegal to disseminate information that could "sow panic among the general public"."Venezuela forces ISPs to police Internet", John Otis, Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), 12 December 2013.

Starting on 12 February 2014 the Venezuelan government blocked users' online images on Twitter, including images of protests against shortages and the world's highest inflation rate."Venezuelans Blocked on Twitter as Opposition Protests Mount", Patricia Laya, Sarah Frier and Anatoly Kurmanaev, Bloomberg News, 14 February 2014. Retrieved 15 February 2014. It was reported that the image blocking had ended by the morning of 15 February."Twitter reports image blocking in Venezuela", USA Today (AP), 14 February 2014. Retrieved 15 February 2014.

In May 2015, Juan Carlos Alemán, a Venezuelan official speaking on television, announced that the Venezuelan government was in the process of removing the use of servers from Google and Mozilla and using Venezuelan satellites in order to have more control over the internet of Venezuelans.

CONATEL verifies that ISPs do not allow their subscribers to access content in their criteria which is "an aggression to the Venezuelan people" and "causes unstabilization", and can force ISPs to block web sites in opposition to the government's interests. By 2014, there could be possible automations of DirecTV, CANTV, Movistar and regulation of YouTube and Twitter.

Following the election establishing the 2017 Constituent National Assembly, the president of the assembly Delcy Rodríguez decreed that there would be "regulation of the emission of messages of hatred and intolerance (and) strong penalties when it is in presence of a crime of hatred and intolerance", singling out opposition politicians while also threatening those who criticized her brother, Jorge Rodriguez. On 8 November 2017, the pro-government Constituent National Assembly approved the Law against Hatred. The Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (CIDH), expressed concern that the law "establishes exorbitant criminal sanctions and powers to censor traditional media and the Internet, in contradiction with international standards regarding freedom of expression". The Rapporteur explained that the law was designed to allow the Venezuelan State to punish "expressions that should be protected by the right to freedom of expression", and that the State may even suppress content, as the law gives them the power to block and revoke licenses under the law in regards to any and all media, including the Internet.

By 2017, Freedom House declared in its Freedom on the Net 2017 report that Venezuela's internet was ranked as "not free", citing the blockage of social media applications, political content being blocked, attacks of online reports by law enforcement and the arrests of internet users. Since late-2017, the Venezuelan government censored the website El Pitazo, blocking it with DNS methods.

Following the 2018 Venezuelan presidential election, the website for El Nacional was sanctioned by the state-run CONATEL on 22 May 2018, with the violation of Article 27 of the Social Responsibility in Radio, Television and Electronic Media being cited by the Venezuelan government.

Some major pornographic websites such as PornHub, XVideos, YouPorn were blocked in Venezuela in June 2018.