Freedom House Releases Internet Freedom Report

Last week, Freedom House released its report on internet freedom in 37 countries around the world. The report found that while the number of internet users have increased, “governments have stepped up efforts to regulate, and in some instance tightly control, the new medium.”  The study highlights the  increase in the number of blocked and filtered sites as well as the arrest of bloggers and internet users posting information contrary to the government’s views.  It also notes the fact that a large number of governments, such as Saudi Arabia, have deliberately blocked access to information related to politics, social issues, and human rights.  It also notes the sophistication of these regimes to filter and control content or even shut down the internet, as was the case in Egypt.  The report notes that intensified censorship and arrest of users came “in the context of popular protests or contentious elections” in countries like Bahrain, Iran and Tunisia and highlights the importance of sites such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter in social and political activism during the recent and ongoing events Egypt, Tunisia, and Bahrain.  In the study, Jordan was listed as a “country at risk” due to the monitoring of some activity by authorities and the adoption of a new law on cybercrimes that may be used to limit free expression on the internet.

Jordan, Turkey and Egypt received a “Partly Free” designation while Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and Iran were labeled as “Not Free.”  Iran received the lowest internet freedom score due to the internet restrictions put in place following the 2009 Green Revolution, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard’s stake in the Telecommunications Company of Iran and the banning of encrypted e-mail sites like Gmail.