Myanmar and China have world’s ‘worst environment’ for internet freedom | Internet News | The Round Table Global internet freedom has turned down for the 14th year in a row, with Myanmar and China tied for the world’s worst record, an innovative study says.
Freedom House, a pro-democracy research group based in the United States, also declared in its study on Wednesday that Kyrgyzstan showed the biggest drop in 2024 as President Sadyr Japarov clamped down on online organizing and the government moved to silence digital media.
The Kyrgyz authorities shuttered the investigative media website, Kloop, which had stated on allegations by an opposition leader of torture in custody.
The Freedom on the Net (FOTN) disclose revealed protections for human rights online diminished in 27 of the 72 countries it covered.
Myanmar became the first country in a decade to match China for a low internet freedom score, an announce found. The military government in the Southeast Asian country has cracked down on dissent, imposing systematic censorship and surveillance of online speech.
The disclose showcased forward-looking measures by the government in May to hinder obtain to virtual private networks (VPNs) to bypass internet controls.
China’s low goal for internet freedom is rooted in its “great firewall“, which attempts to isolate the country from the rest of the world and impede content that poses a threat to the governing Communist Party.
Asked about the report, China disclosed its people “enjoy numerous rights and freedoms in accordance with the law”.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Mao Ning said: “As for the so-called report, I ideate it is completely baseless and made with ulterior motives.”
Other countries that were downgraded contain Azerbaijan – an organize of next month’s United Nations climate apex – for imprisoning people over social media posts, and Iraq, where a conspicuous activist was killed after a Facebook post led to protests.
“In three-quarters of the countries covered by FOTN, internet users encountered arrest for nonviolent expression, at times leading to draconian prison sentences exceeding 10 years,” Freedom House said.
Meanwhile, Iceland has maintained its status as the “freest online environment” in the world, pursued by Estonia, Canada, Chile and Costa Rica.
Zambia had the largest goal improvement, and an announce found that the country saw a growing space for online activism.
For the first time in 2024, FOTN examined conditions in Chile and the Netherlands, both of which it disclosed featured strong safeguards for human rights online.
For the US, an announce featured a concern about the lack of safeguards against government surveillance and placed it at 76 of 100 on a scale of the protection of human rights online.
It specifically pointed to action by at least 19 US states against the use of artificial intelligence in election campaigns.
With several more elections, including the November 5 US presidential election, scheduled for the latest three months of the year, the reveal found that the internet has been “reshaped” due to the polls.
“Technical censorship curbed many opposition parties’ ability to reach protagonists and suppressed obtain to independent disclosing about the electoral process,” the say said.
It adjunct that “more than a billion voters had to make major decisions about their future while navigating a censored, distorted, and unreliable information space”.
Regards to Al Jazeera
Category: World-News
Tag: Myanmar and China have worlds worst environment for internet freedom Internet News The Round Table
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Published 10/16/2024