Ranking digital rights: The 2025 big tech edition
The 2025 RDR Index Big Tech Edition ranks 14 major technology companies on governance, freedom of expression, and privacy. Microsoft leads overall with 50%, followed by Alphabet at 49% and Meta at 47%. Scores are also assessed across eight thematic lenses, including algorithmic transparency, security, and targeted advertising.
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OVERVIEW
The 2025 RDR Index Big Tech Edition is a data explorer published by Ranking Digital Rights (RDR) that assesses 14 major technology companies on their commitment to users’ rights across three top-level categories: governance, freedom of expression and information, and privacy.
2025 Company and service scores
Microsoft ranks first overall with a score of 50%, followed by Alphabet at 49% and Meta at 47%. Apple and Kakao are tied in fourth place at 44%, with ByteDance at 43%, X at 40%, and Yandex at 37% (p.2).
Alibaba and Baidu both score 33%, while Tencent scores 30%, Samsung 28%, and Amazon and VK both score 27% (p.2).
Lenses
Lenses are custom, thematically linked sets of indicators drawn from all three assessment categories. They allow for a quick understanding of companies’ performance on key focal areas such as algorithmic transparency, government demands, and user agency (p.3).
Algorithmic transparency (average score: 21%): ByteDance leads at 38%, followed by Alibaba at 36%. Apple, Amazon, Samsung, and Tencent all score 8% — the lowest in this lens (p.3).
Policy enforcement (average score: 34%): ByteDance leads at 62%, followed by X at 43% and Microsoft at 42%. Apple scores lowest at 12% (pp.3–4).
Data handling (average score: 36%): X leads at 45%, followed by Samsung at 43%, and Alphabet and Apple tied at 41%. Amazon scores lowest at 25% (p.4).
Government demands (average score: 41%): Alphabet leads at 82%, followed by Apple at 72% and Meta at 68%. Samsung scores lowest at 8% (p.5).
Private requests (average score: 10%): Kakao leads at 29%, while Samsung scores 0% — the only company to receive no score in this lens (pp.5–6).
Security (average score: 61%): Microsoft leads at 76%, closely followed by Apple at 75%. Samsung scores lowest at 47% (p.6).
Targeted advertising (average score: 32%): ByteDance leads at 49%, followed by X at 47% and Alphabet at 42%. Apple scores lowest at 20% (pp.6–7).
User agency (average score: 37%): X leads at 53%, followed by Alphabet at 48%, ByteDance at 46%, and Meta at 45%. Samsung scores lowest at 22% (p.7).
Performance over time
Scores are tracked from 2017 to 2025 for companies assessed across multiple cycles. Most companies’ scores dropped between 2019 and 2020 with the inclusion of new indicators on targeted advertising and algorithmic systems (p.10).
Alphabet’s score has declined from 65% in 2017 to 49% in 2025, and X’s score has fallen from 55% in 2019 to 40% in 2025. In contrast, Tencent has improved from 22% in 2017 to 30% in 2025, and Yandex from 28% in 2017 to 37% in 2025. Microsoft’s score has remained relatively stable at 62% in 2017 and 50% in 2025 (pp.9–10).
A note is included regarding ByteDance’s ownership structure: ByteDance is based in Beijing, registered in the Cayman Islands, and has no single global headquarters according to TikTok. TikTok states that the Chinese government has a 1% ownership stake in ByteDance (p.10).
