Freedom House: Government threats to web on the up, along with protests

Internet freedom is under attack. Governments are becoming increasingly repressive, frequently acting against their own citizens. At the same time however, activists are fighting back harder than ever.

Over the past couple of years brutal attacks against bloggers, politically motivated surveillance, proactive manipulation of web content, and restrictive laws regulating speech online have all become more common, says a new report from NGO Freedom House. On the opposite end of the scale however increased pushback by civil society, technology companies, and independent courts resulted in several notable victories.

“The findings clearly show that threats to internet freedom are becoming more diverse. 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 at Freedom House.

The increased moves by government to control freedom on the net, says Freedom House, are largely down to the increased influence of the medium, especially in the wake of the Arab Spring and the Occupy movement.

According to the NGO, methods previously only used by the most repressive countries on Earth are becoming more widespread:

The methods of control are becoming more sophisticated, and tactics previously evident in only the most repressive environments—such as governments instigating deliberate connection disruptions or hiring armies of paid commentators to manipulate online discussions—are appearing in a wider set of countries.

One example of these repressive tactics has seen regimes covertly hiring armies of pro-government bloggers to “tout the official point of view, discredit opposition activists, or disseminate false information about unfolding events”. In the past, says Freedom House, this was largely limited to China and Russia, but over the last year, it has been adopted in more than a quarter of the 47 countries examined

Former Soviet state Estonia, was found to have the most online freedom. Despite proposed legislature like SOPA, the US managed to sneak in to the number two spot. Iran, Cuba, and China meanwhile received the lowest scores in the analysis.

Freedom House reckons the most “at risk” countries are Azerbaijan, Libya, Malaysia, Pakistan, Russia, Rwanda, and Sri Lanka. It also downgraded internet freedom in a number of countries including Bahrain, Egypt, and Jordan.