WUNRN
2010 REPORT - WOMEN ON THE WEB:
HOW WOMEN ARE SHAPING THE
INTERNET
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genderIT.org - http://www.genderit.org/
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Direct Link to Full 410-Page Freedom
House 2011 Report:
INTERNET FREEDOM - MOUNTING THREATS
- FREEDOM HOUSE STUDY
GLOBAL ASSESSMENT OF INTERNET &
DIGITAL MEDIA
Washington, DC - April 18, 2011 |
Cyberattacks,
politically motivated censorship, and government control over internet
infrastructure are among the diverse and growing threats to internet freedom,
according to Freedom on the Net 2011: A Global Assessment of Internet and
Digital Media,a new study
released today by Freedom House. These
encroachments on internet freedom come at a time of explosive growth in the
number of internet users worldwide, which has doubled over the past five
years. Governments are responding to the increased influence of the new
medium by seeking to control online activity, restricting the free flow of
information, and otherwise infringing on the rights of users. “These
detailed findings clearly show that internet freedom cannot be taken for
granted,” said David J. Kramer, executive director of Freedom House.
“Nondemocratic regimes are devoting more attention and resources to
censorship and other forms of interference with online expression.” Freedom
on the Net 2011,which
identifies key trends in internet freedom in 37 countries, follows a pilot
edition that was released in 2009. Freedom on the Net evaluates each
country based on barriers to access, limitations on content, and violations
of users’ rights. The
study found that Estonia had the greatest degree of internet freedom among
the countries examined, while the United States ranked second. Iran received
the lowest score in the analysis. Eleven other countries received a ranking
of Not Free, including Belarus, Burma, China, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, and
Thailand. A total of 9 of the 15 countries in the original pilot study
registered declines over the past two years. Conditions in at least half of
the newly added countries similarly indicated a negative trajectory.
Crackdowns on bloggers, increased censorship, and targeted cyberattacks often
coincided with broader political turmoil, including controversial elections. Countries
at Risk:As
part of its analysis, Freedom House identified a number of important
countries that are seen as particularly vulnerable to deterioration in the
coming 12 months: Jordan, Russia, Thailand, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe. Key
Trends *
Explosion in social-media use met with censorship:In response to the growing
popularity of internet-based applications like Facebook, YouTube, and
Twitter, many governments have started targeting the new platforms as part of
their censorship strategies. In 12 of the 37 countries examined, the
authorities consistently or temporarily imposed total bans on these services
or their equivalents. * Bloggers
and ordinary users face arrest: Bloggers, online journalists, and
human rights activists, as well as ordinary people, increasingly face arrest
and imprisonment for their online writings. In 23 of the 37 countries,
including several democratic states, at least one blogger or internet user
was detained because of online communications. * Cyberattacks
against regime critics intensifying: Governments and their
sympathizers are increasingly using technical attacks to disrupt activists’
online networks, eavesdrop on their communications, and cripple their
websites. Such attacks were reported in at least 12 of the 37 countries
covered. * Politically
motivated censorship and content manipulation growing: A total of 15
of the 37 countries examined were found to engage in substantial online
blocking of politically relevant content. In these countries, website blocks
are not sporadic, but rather the result of an apparent national policy to
restrict users’ access to information, including the websites of independent
news outlets and human rights groups. * Governments
exploit centralized internet infrastructure to limit access:
Centralized government control over a country’s connection to international
internet traffic poses a significant threat to free online expression,
particularly at times of political turmoil. In 12 of the 37 countries
examined, the authorities used their control over infrastructure to limit
widespread access to politically and socially controversial content, and in
extreme cases, cut off access to the internet entirely. “The
ability to communicate political views, organize, debate, and have access to
critical information is as important online as it is in the offline world,”
said Sanja Kelly, managing editor of the report. “A more urgent response is
needed to protect bloggers and other internet users from the sorts of
restrictions that repressive governments have already imposed on traditional
media,” Kelly added. Other
Important Country Findings: *
China: TheChinese
government boasts the world’s most sophisticated system of internet controls,
and its approach has become even more restrictive in recent years. Blocks on
Facebook and Twitter have become permanent, while domestic alternatives to
these applications have risen in popularity despite being forced to censor
their users. The authorities imposed a months-long shutdown of internet
access in the western region of Xinjiang during the report’s coverage period,
and at least 70 people were in jail for internet-related reasons as of 2010. *
Iran: Since
the protests that followed the flawed presidential election of June 12, 2009,
the Iranian authorities have waged a fierce campaign against internet
freedom, including deliberately slowing internet speeds at critical times and
using hacking to disable opposition websites. An increasing number of
bloggers have been threatened, arrested, tortured, or kept in solitary
confinement, and at least one died in prison. * Pakistan:
In recent years—under both military rule and an ostensibly democratic
civilian government—the authorities have adopted various measures to exert
some control over the internet and the sharing of information online. In
mid-2010, a new Inter-Ministerial Committee for the Evaluation of Websites
was established to identify sites for blocking based on vaguely defined
offenses against the state or religion. *
United States: Access
to the internet in the United States remains open and fairly free compared
with the rest of the world. Users face very few restrictions on their ability
to access and publish content online, and courts have consistently held that
prohibitions against government regulation of speech apply to material
published on the internet. However, the United States lags behind many major
industrialized countries in terms of broadband penetration and connection
speeds, and the government’s surveillance powers are cause for some concern. |