China, Myanmar have worst internet freedom, Iceland most free: US Freedom House report

Myanmar has tied China for the world’s worst record on internet freedom, with declines reported in a number of other countries led by Kyrgyzstan, a study said Wednesday.

The further deterioration in Myanmar, a Beijing ally where the military seized power in 2021, marks the first time in a decade that any country has matched China for a low score in the Freedom on the Net report.

The report by Freedom House, a pro-democracy research group funded by the US Congress but run independently, found that internet freedom fell for the 14th straight year globally, with more countries seeing declines than rises.

In Myanmar, the junta has harshly cracked down on dissent since ending a decade-long experiment in democracy, with systematic censorship and surveillance of online speech.

Freedom House pointed to new measures imposed by the junta in May to block access to virtual private networks, or VPNs, which residents have used to bypass internet controls.

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China infamously has developed a sweeping “great firewall” meant to root out content that poses a threat to the ruling Communist Party.

The country that showed the biggest drop in the survey was Kyrgyzstan, where authorities shuttered website Kloop, which is largely funded by US-based NGOs and had reported on allegations by an opposition leader of torture in custody.

Other countries downgraded included Azerbaijan –host of next month’s COP29 climate summit– for detaining people over social media posts, and Iraq, where a prominent activist was slain after Facebook posts encouraging protests.

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The biggest gains were seen in Zambia, with the report saying the country saw a growing space for online activism.

Iceland was ranked the most free online, followed by Estonia and then Canada, Chile and Costa Rica.

The United States meanwhile held steady at 76 on a 100-point scale, with Freedom House renewing concern about the lack of safeguards against government surveillance.

It also pointed to actions by at least 19 US states against the misuse of artificial intelligence in election campaigns.