Wikipedia

Freedom on the Net

Freedom on the Net is an annual report providing analytical reports and numerical ratings regarding the state of Internet freedom for countries worldwide, published by the American non-profit research and advocacy group Freedom House.[1] The countries surveyed represent a sample with a broad range of geographical diversity and levels of economic development, as well as varying levels of political and media freedom.

Methodology edit

The surveys ask a set of questions designed to measure each country's level of Internet and digital media freedom, as well as the access and openness of other digital means of transmitting information, particularly mobile phones and text messaging services. Results are presented for three areas:[2] p.31

  • Obstacles to Access: infrastructural and economic barriers to access; governmental efforts to block specific applications or technologies; legal and ownership control over internet and mobile phone access providers.
  • Limits on Content: filtering and blocking of websites; other forms of censorship and self-censorship; manipulation of content; the diversity of online news media; and usage of digital media for social and political activism.
  • Violations of User Rights: legal protections and restrictions on online activity; surveillance and limits on privacy; and repercussions for online activity, such as legal prosecution, imprisonment, physical attacks, or other forms of harassment.

The results from the three areas are combined into a total score for a country (from 100 for "Most Free" to 0 for "Least Free") and countries are rated as "Free" (100 to 70), "Partly Free" (69 to 40), or "Not Free" (39 to 0) based on the totals.[2] p.31

Results edit

Starting in 2009 Freedom House has produced eleven editions of the report.[1][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] There was no report in 2010. The reports generally cover the period from June through May.

Freedom on the Net Survey Results
  2009[1] 2011[3] 2012[4] 2013[5] 2014[6] 2015[7] 2016[8] 2017[9] 2018[10] 2019[12] 2020[13]
Countries 15 37 47 60 65 65 65 65 65 65 65
Free   4 (27%)   8 (22%) 14 (30%) 17 (29%) 19 (29%) 18 (28%) 17 (26%) 16 (25%) 15 (23%) 15 (23%) 15 (23%)
Partly free   7 (47%) 18 (49%) 20 (43%) 29 (48%) 31 (48%) 28 (43%) 28 (43%) 28 (43%) 30 (46%) 29 (45%) 28 (43%)
Not free   4 (27%) 11 (30%) 13 (28%) 14 (23%) 15 (23%) 19 (29%) 20 (31%) 21 (32%) 20 (31%) 21 (32%) 22 (34%)
Improved n/a   5 (33%) 11 (31%) 12 (26%) 12 (18%) 15 (23%) 34 (52%) 32 (49%) 19 (29%) n/a 23 (35%)
Declined n/a   9 (60%) 17 (47%) 28 (60%) 36 (55%) 32 (49%) 14 (22%) 13 (20%) 26 (40%) n/a 26 (40%)
No change n/a   1   (7%)   8 (22%)   7 (15%) 17 (26%) 18 (28%) 17 (26%) 20 (31%) 20 (31%) n/a 16 (25%)

2020 results edit

Freedom on the Net 2020[2]
  Free ·   Partly free ·   Not free
Country Score
  Iceland 95
  Estonia 94
  Canada 87
  Germany 80
  United Kingdom 78
  France 77
  Australia 76
  Georgia 76
  Italy 76
  United States 76
  Armenia 75
  Japan 75
  Argentina 71
  Hungary 71
  South Africa 70
  Kenya 67
  Colombia 66
  South Korea 66
  Philippines 64
  Tunisia 64
  Brazil 63
  Angola 62
  Mexico 61
  Ukraine 61
  Malawi 60
  Nigeria 60
  Zambia 59
  Malaysia 58
  Ecuador 57
  Kyrgyzstan 56
  Uganda 56
  Singapore 54
  Lebanon 52
  Morocco 52
  Sri Lanka 52
  India 51
  Libya 50
  Indonesia 49
  Jordan 49
  The Gambia 49
  Zimbabwe 46
  Cambodia 43
  Bangladesh 42
  Rwanda 39
  Azerbaijan 38
  Belarus 38
  Thailand 35
  Turkey 35
  Kazakhstan 32
  Myanmar 31
  Russia 30
  Sudan 30
  Bahrain 29
  Ethiopia 29
  United Arab Emirates 29
  Venezuela 28
  Uzbekistan 27
  Egypt 26
  Pakistan 26
  Saudi Arabia 26
  Cuba 22
  Vietnam 22
  Syria 17
  Iran 15
  China 10

Comparison with Other Datasets edit

Several other organizations measure internet freedom, such as the V-Dem Institute, Access Now, and the OpenNet Initiative.[14][15][16][17] V-Dem's Digital Society project measures a range of questions related to internet censorship, misinformation online, and internet shutdowns using surveys of experts.[15] Access Now maintains an annual list of internet shutdowns, throttling, and blockages as part of the #KeepItOn project.[14] The OpenNet Initiative formerly kept data on internet censorship of particular websites.[17] Freedom on the Net's report covers a range of concepts that the other datasets do not, such as new legislation passed, but lacks the country coverage of other datasets.[2][16]

Expert surveys such as Freedom House and V-Dem have been found to be more prone to false positives (they are more likely to find uncorroborated instances of censorship).[18] While remote sensing such as the kind done by Access Now and OpenNet Initiative are more likely to be prone to false negatives (they may miss some instances of real censorship).[19]

The Millennium Challenge Corporation used the Key Internet Controls portion of the Freedom on the Net report to inform its country selection process until 2020 when this report was replaced with data on internet shutdowns from Access Now.[20][21]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c Freedom on the Net 2009, Freedom House, accessed 16 April 2012
  2. ^ a b c d "Freedom on the Net 2020" (PDF). Freedom House.
  3. ^ a b Freedom on the Net 2011, Freedom House, accessed 15 April 2012
  4. ^ a b Freedom on the Net 2012, Freedom House, accessed 24 September 2012
  5. ^ a b Freedom on the Net 2013, Freedom House, 3 October 2013. Retrieved 12 October 2013.
  6. ^ a b "Freedom on the Net 2014" (PDF). Freedom House. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  7. ^ a b "Freedom on the Net 2015" (PDF). Freedom House. October 2015. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  8. ^ a b "Freedom on the Net 2016" (PDF). Freedom House. October 2016. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  9. ^ a b "Freedom on the Net 2017" (PDF). Freedom House. October 2017. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  10. ^ a b "Freedom on the Net 2018" (PDF). Freedom House. November 2018. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  11. ^ "Freedom on the Net 2019" (PDF). Freedom House. November 2019. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  12. ^ "Freedom on the Net 2019" (PDF). Freedom House.
  13. ^ "Freedom on the Net 2020" (PDF). Freedom House.
  14. ^ a b Taye, Berhan (2021). "Shattered Dreams and Lost Opportunities" (PDF). Access Now.
  15. ^ a b Mechkova, V., Daniel P., Brigitte S.,&Steven W. (2020). Digital Society Project Dataset v2.Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Project http://digitalsocietyproject.org/
  16. ^ a b Fletcher, Terry; Hayes-Birchler, Andria (2020-07-30). "Comparing Measures of Internet Censorship: Analyzing the Tradeoffs between Expert Analysis and Remote Measurement". doi:10.5281/zenodo.3967398. S2CID 244992072. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  17. ^ a b "West Censoring East: The Use of Western Technologies by Middle East Censors, 2010–2011", Helmi Noman and Jillian C. York, OpenNet Initiative, March 2011
  18. ^ Fletcher, Terry; Hayes-Birchler, Andria (2020-07-30). "Comparing Measures of Internet Censorship: Analyzing the Tradeoffs between Expert Analysis and Remote Measurement". doi:10.5281/zenodo.3967398. S2CID 244992072. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  19. ^ Fletcher, Terry; Hayes-Birchler, Andria (2020-07-30). "Comparing Measures of Internet Censorship: Analyzing the Tradeoffs between Expert Analysis and Remote Measurement". doi:10.5281/zenodo.3967398. S2CID 244992072. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  20. ^ "Guide to the MCC Indicators for Fiscal Year 2020". Millennium Challenge Corporation. Retrieved 2021-06-07.
  21. ^ "Guide to the MCC Indicators for Fiscal Year 2021". Millennium Challenge Corporation. Retrieved 2021-06-07.
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