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
editThe 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
editThis section needs to be updated. (October 2024) |
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.
| 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| 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
editSeveral 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- ^ a b c Freedom on the Net 2009, Freedom House, accessed 16 April 2012
- ^ a b c d "Freedom on the Net 2020" (PDF). Freedom House.
- ^ a b Freedom on the Net 2011, Freedom House, accessed 15 April 2012
- ^ a b Freedom on the Net 2012, Freedom House, accessed 24 September 2012
- ^ a b Freedom on the Net 2013, Freedom House, 3 October 2013. Retrieved 12 October 2013.
- ^ a b "Freedom on the Net 2014" (PDF). Freedom House. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
- ^ a b "Freedom on the Net 2015" (PDF). Freedom House. October 2015. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
- ^ a b "Freedom on the Net 2016" (PDF). Freedom House. October 2016. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
- ^ a b "Freedom on the Net 2017" (PDF). Freedom House. October 2017. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
- ^ a b "Freedom on the Net 2018" (PDF). Freedom House. November 2018. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
- ^ "Freedom on the Net 2019" (PDF). Freedom House. November 2019. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
- ^ "Freedom on the Net 2019" (PDF). Freedom House.
- ^ "Freedom on the Net 2020" (PDF). Freedom House.
- ^ a b Taye, Berhan (2021). "Shattered Dreams and Lost Opportunities" (PDF). Access Now.
- ^ 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/
- ^ 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) - ^ 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
- ^ 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) - ^ 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) - ^ "Guide to the MCC Indicators for Fiscal Year 2020". Millennium Challenge Corporation. Retrieved 2021-06-07.
- ^ "Guide to the MCC Indicators for Fiscal Year 2021". Millennium Challenge Corporation. Retrieved 2021-06-07.