8/15/2019 China, Iran, Syria Worst Internet Freedom
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China, Syria, Iran Worst on Internet Freedom
A new report says the government in China is the worst
abuser of Internet freedoms.
That is the opinion of Freedom House, an independent, non-profit
group based in Washington, D.C. The group
wors in support of demo!ra!y and freedom of e"pression
wor#dwide.
The Freedom House report, !a##ed $Freedom on the %et &'(),*
noted that on#ine restri!tions have in!reased in
ea!h of the past five years. It said the Wor#d Wide Web has
be!ome more restri!ted for mi##ions of peop#e.
The group reported that Internet freedoms have de!reased in
+& of the ) nations it studied. China was
rated as the worst !ountry in denying Internet rights.yria was
rated se!ond, with Iran in third p#a!e.
$Internet freedom on a g#oba# s!a#e is !ontinuing to de!#ine,*
said aura /eed, a resear!her for the Freedom onthe %et pro0e!t.
$The most surprising shift 1in suppression2 was from b#o!ing to the
remova# of !ontent.*
The governments of audi Arabia, 3ietnam and 4imbabwe were rated
among the #east free for their
suppression of free spee!h. 5ther !ountries high on the
Internet-unfriend#y #ist in!#uded /ussia, 6raine,
Turey and 7gypt.
In China, the government wat!hed on#ine a!tivities and b#o!ed
private networs, a!!ording to the report. It
a#so noted that, in 6raine, some web users were physi!a##y
threatened by pro-/ussia mi#itias.
5f the nations surveyed, 8' of ) !ountries imprisoned Internet
users for
e"pressing po#iti!a# or so!ia# !omments online. 5n#y two nations
arrested Internet a!tivists #ast year.
9ut the report noted some improvements in () of the ) nations
studied. Cuba improved its rating.
The is#and nation earned higher mars for #owering Internet
!osts.
The Cuban government a#so showed greater Internet
tolerance in &'().
I:m ;onathan 7vans.
