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A report the U.S. State Department has highlighted the rise religious intolerance worldwide. U.S. Secretary State John Kerry gave reporters a summary the "International Religious Freedom" report. He said: "[It] shines light the challenges people face as they seek nothing more than basic religious freedom and the right to worship as they wish." Kerry said a particularly worrying trend was the increased discrimination against Jews and Muslims the world. The report highlighted a rise anti-Islamic sentiment in Europe and Asia, and an increase anti-Semitism in other parts the world. Kerry warned that: "When countries undermine or attack religious freedom, they threaten their country's own stability."

The report opened a quote from President Barack Obama, who said religious freedom was, "an essential part human dignity, and without it our world cannot know lasting peace". The report outlined how nations were repressing religious freedom. It said: "Numerous governments imposed…undue and inappropriate restrictions religious groups and abused their members, some cases as part formal government law and practice." The report also warned that denying freedom worship increased the danger political and societal instability. It said such a policy: "Undercuts society’s ability to counter and combat the biased and warped interpretations religion that violent extremists propagate."