With two pirate site blocking bills under discussion in the U.S., and a third expected in the weeks ahead, a key statistic seems to be shrinking. During 2024 it was claimed that site blocking is a common tool in ~60 countries, a figure now reframed as "50 democratic countries" in the latest blocking bill. Yet if countries are excluded from the total on the basis they have never blocked, no longer block, or fail to meet the democratic threshold, the total may shrink to less than 40.
Basically, the people selling anti-piracy bill claim that "60 other democracies do it".
But when you ask for the receipts, the number keeps shrinking.