Global Internet freedom has declined for the 12th consecutive year, with online human rights deteriorating in 28 countries and governments cracking down on virtual spaces, Freedom House said on Tuesday.
In its annual report, titled “Freedom on the Net 2022: Countering an Authoritarian Review of the Internet,” the Washington-based nonprofit organization noted that the steepest drops in Internet freedom have been documented in Russia, Myanmar, Sudan and Libya, but China remains, for the eighth consecutive year, the country with the most repressive online environment in the world.
In at least 53 countries, users faced legal repercussions for expressing themselves ‘online’, often leading to draconian prison sentences.
The report also highlights that governments are fragmenting the global Internet to create more manageable ‘online’ spaces.
“A record number of national governments blocked ‘websites’ with non-violent political, social or religious content, undermining the rights to freedom of expression and access to information. The majority of these blockings targeted sources located outside the The new national laws pose an additional threat to the free flow of information by centralizing technical infrastructure and applying flawed regulations to social media platforms and user data,” the document says.
The steepest drop in Internet freedom occurred in Russia, as the Kremlin stepped up efforts “to quell domestic opposition and muzzle the independent press following its illegal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine,” the nonprofit said. profit.
Taking a more global view, Freedom House estimates that of the more than 4.5 billion people with Internet access in the world, 76 percent live in countries where people have been arrested or jailed for posting content on political, social, or political issues. or religious. and 64% reside in states where people have been attacked or killed for their ‘online’ activities since June 2021.
“Global decline was driven by repressive leaders in their own countries and on the international stage, where they sought to divide the open Internet into a ‘patchwork’ of repressive enclaves that advance their interests and consolidate their power,” Freedom House noted.
This report identifies three main causes of fragmentation that have contributed to diminishing respect for human rights ‘online’: restrictions on the flow of news and information, centralized state control over Internet infrastructure, and barriers to international data transfers. users.
An increasing number of users only have access to an ‘online’ space that reflects the views and interests of their government.
“Diplomats from China and Russia have made inroads into institutions such as the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), seeking to transform the United Nations agency into a global Internet regulator that promotes authoritarian interests,” the report says.
However, despite the negative scenario, a record 26 countries saw improvements in internet freedom. Two of the biggest improvements took place in Gambia and Zimbabwe. Iceland was, once again, the best performing country.
“Despite the overall global decline, civil society organizations in many countries have been engaging in collaborative efforts to improve legislation, build media resilience and ensure accountability among tech companies. Successful collective action against shutting down the Internet offered a model for further progress on other issues, such as commercial spyware,” the document reads.
In the United States, Internet freedom has improved slightly for the first time in six years.
Yet just weeks before the midterm elections, scheduled for November 2022, “the ‘online’ environment was rife with political misinformation, conspiracy theories and ‘online’ harassment targeting election officials and officials,” it says.
The report in question is one of the major annual studies on human rights in the digital sphere, examining global trends, country-specific findings and best practices on how to protect human rights ‘online’.
The document is the result of an analysis carried out between June 2021 and May 2022 and analyzes internet freedom in 70 countries, representing 89% of the world’s internet users.
The report assesses how governments exercise control over what billions of people can access and share ‘online’, including blocking foreign ‘websites’, hoarding personal data and increasing control over the technical infrastructure of their countries.
Source: TSF
