No political parties or national elections are permitted in Saudi Arabia and according to The Economist's 2010 Democracy Index, the Saudi government is the seventh most authoritarian regime from among the 167 countries rated. There is no legal protection of freedom of speech and people are prohibited from publicly criticizing the government, Islam, or the royal family. The Saudi press is strictly censored and articles on Saudi dissidents are banned. Saudi censorship is considered among the most restrictive in the world and the country blocks broad swathes of the Internet. After protests occurred in early 2011, the government banned all public demonstrations and marches.