The emancipatory power of the internet depends on its egalitarian nature. State intervention must protect human rights online and preserve an open internet. The new administration took promising steps to enforce stronger protections for internet users. False, misleading, and manipulated information continued to proliferate online, even affecting public acceptance of the 2020 presidential election results. The United States’ score declined for the fifth consecutive year. Officials also cracked down on the country’s tech giants, citing their abuses related to competition and data protection, though the campaign further concentrated power in the hands of the authoritarian state. The COVID-19 pandemic remains one of the most heavily censored topics. Chinese authorities imposed draconian prison terms for online dissent, independent reporting, and mundane daily communications. Authorities in at least 45 countries are suspected of obtaining sophisticated spyware or data-extraction technology from private vendors.Ĭhina ranks as the worst environment for internet freedom for the seventh year in a row. Officials suspended internet access in at least 20 countries, and 21 states blocked access to social media platforms. More governments arrested users for nonviolent political, social, or religious speech than ever before. With a few positive exceptions, the push to regulate the tech industry, which stems in some cases from genuine problems like online harassment and manipulative market practices, is being exploited to subdue free expression and gain greater access to private data.įree expression online is under unprecedented strain. Authorities in at least 48 countries pursued new rules for tech companies on content, data, and competition over the past year. Governments clashed with technology companies on users’ rights. Myanmar’s 14-point score decline is the largest registered since the Freedom on the Net project began.
The greatest deteriorations were documented in Myanmar, Belarus, and Uganda, where state forces cracked down amid electoral and constitutional crises.
Global internet freedom declined for the 11th consecutive year.
0 kommentar(er)
