More countries restrict
Internet to stifle critics: report
Reuters – 11 hours ago
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -
Government restrictions on the Internet have risen over the past year around
the world as regimes use violence against bloggers and turn to censorship and
arrest to squelch calls for reform, a new report from a U.S. advocacy group has
found.
Pakistan, Bahrain and
Ethiopia saw the biggest rollbacks in Internet freedom since January 2011 and
were among the 20 countries out of 47 assessed by Freedom House that declined
in their rankings.
In contrast Tunisia, Libya
and Burma, all countries that have seen dramatic political opening or regime
changes, improved over previous years along with 14 other countries, the U.S.
group, which advocates democracy and open societies, said.
The report was released
the day that Vietnam handed out stiff jail terms to three high-profile bloggers
for their bold criticism of government handling of land rights issues and
corruption.
Estonia topped the list of
countries for freedom of the Internet with the United States in second place,
according to the Freedom House report. The rankings were based on obstacles to
Internet access, limits on content and violations of user rights.
Estonia has a highly
developed online culture that includes online voting and access to electronic
medical records and some of the lightest content restrictions in the world, the
report found. The United States has fallen behind in Internet speed and cost
and broadband availability.
Methods for controlling
free speech on digital media also have grown more sophisticated and diverse the
past year.
Governments have passed
new restrictive laws in 19 states. In Iran, censors have improved software for
filtering content and hacked digital certificates. In Pakistan, virtual private
networks are banned. And in 14 countries the governments have followed China's
lead in hiring armies of commentators to manipulate online discussions, the
authors said.
"As authoritarian
rulers see that blocked websites and high-profile arrests draw local and
international condemnation, they are turning to murkier — but no less dangerous
— methods for controlling online conversations," said Sanja Kelly, project
director for Freedom on the Net.
Other findings include: *
Physical attacks against government critics are intensifying: In 19 of the 47
countries assessed, a blogger or user of information technologies was tortured,
disappeared, beaten, or brutally assaulted for their online posts. In five
countries, an activist or citizen journalist was killed after posting
information that exposed human rights abuses * Bloggers and ordinary users
increasingly face arrest for political speech on the web: In 26 of the 47
countries, including several democratic states, at least one blogger or
Internet user was arrested for content posted online or sent via text message.
* Surveillance has increased with few checks on abuse in 12 of the 47 countries
examined * Citizen pushback has increased and had an impact in 23 countries.
Advocacy campaigns, mass
demonstrations, website blackouts and constitutional court decisions have
resulted in censorship plans being shelved, harmful legislation being
overturned and jailed activists being released.
The report covered the
period from January 2011 to May 2012 and is its third on Internet freedom,
based on information from researchers mostly based in the 47 countries.
(Reporting by Stella
Dawson; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
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