Internet Freedom & Internet Bill of Rights

FREEDOM HOUSE Internet Bill of Rights GC & Global Internet Freedom

INTERNET BILL OF RIGHTS
Internet Freedom
Monitor – Incident Tracking, news, developments
Reporting
Country reports to compare and rank countries.
Base reports on well developed methodology and existing reports
Advocacy – Promoting internet rights such as freedom of expression & privacy
Global Online Freedom Act – US & Now Europe
Facilitation & coordination with civil society
Human Rights, Freedom of Expression, etc

FREEDOM OF THE PRESS : BASICS
Analytical reports and numerical ratings for 195 countries and territories
Print, broadcast, and Internet news media freedom.
Entire “enabling environment” that contributes to press freedom: legal, political, and economic categories.
Both an examination of the media’s ability to operate freely and without fear of repercussions as well as the ability of the public to access diverse and independent sources of news information.

PRESS FREEDOM IN THE WORLD 2008 BY COUNTRY

PRESS FREEDOM IN THE WORLD 2008 BY POPULATION

RECENT TRENDS IN INTERNET FREEDOM
Internet-based newspapers, blogs, and social networking sites emerging as an important force for openness in restricted media environments and key areas of contestation.
Broadening diversity of available information, empowering citizens, acting as a potent weapon against lack of transparency
In very repressive media environments, the internet is often the only sphere in which anti-government opinions can be expressed.

RECENT TRENDS IN INTERNET FREEDOM (CONT.)
Several repressive governments have allowed the internet to remain relatively free, BUT realizing its potential for political mobilization, an increasing number of governments are expanding their methods to control and monitor internet based media.
Variance between regions in terms of how much the Internet is a site for political contestation and mobilization.
Less in the Americas and Africa; more in Asia and MENA

REGIONAL TRENDS: THE AMERICAS
Variance in internet penetration across the region, from the U.S. and Canada with very high levels, to Chile and Argentina with about 40 percent, to Bolivia and Haiti with under 10 percent.
Unlike most other regions, consistent pattern of very few, if any, government restrictions on internet access.
Cuba – the exception:
Among the most restricted internet environments in the world
BUT, example of a very repressive regime where bloggers are pushing back

REGIONAL TRENDS: AFRICA
Internet not playing a major role due to financial and infrastructural constraints, as well as low literacy.
Lowest regional average penetration rate – under 5 percent in most countries and under 1 percent in many.
BUT, a number of countries where the internet increasingly provides a forum for more open discussion and a primary source of unfiltered news (Kenya, Nigeria, Sudan, Zimbabwe).
A number of governments also working to block sites and restrict access (The Gambia, Ethiopia).

REGIONAL TRENDS: WESTERN EUROPE
Among the highest internet penetration rates in the world and no significant restrictions when compared to other regions.
Blocking of content is more in terms of pornographic content or hate-speech.
Turkey – internet is generally unrestricted, but in 2007 YouTube was blocked twice for airing videos perceived as insulting to government leaders and Ataturk.

REGIONAL TRENDS: ASIA-PACIFIC
High diversity within the region—home to most active and freest internet environments in the world (South Korea, Japan, Taiwan), but also to the most restricted (North Korea, Burma, China).
Internet played a major role in political developments:
Burma: Junta added restrictions, banning YouTube and temporarily shut down the internet completely following pro-democracy protests in September.
Vietnam: One of the worst government crackdowns in years on peaceful dissent; included sentencing online prodemocracy writers to long prison terms.
China: Significant efforts to restrict and control internet content in months before 17 th Party Congress, including blocking over 18,000 websites.

REGIONAL TRENDS: ASIA-PACIFIC (CONTINUED)
Bangladesh: During and after protests in August 2007, authorities re-routed all internet traffic through state telecom company.
Sri Lanka: Government ordered to largest ISP’s to restrict access to pro-LTTE news website.
Pakistan: blocks some access to politically-sensitive websites; occasionally imposes crude blocks – YouTube incident.
Fiji: Authorities attempted to shut down pro-democracy blogs critical of 2006 military coup.

REGIONAL TRENDS: CEE/FSU
High regional diversity – some very free countries with no restrictions (Estonia, Poland) and some highly repressive regimes seeking to control access.
In repressive countries, often freer than print and broadcast media.
Particularly in FSU and central Asia, steps taken to limit internet freedom:
Independent and opposition websites blocked (Belarus, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan)
Restrictive legislation or regulations requiring user registration passed (Belarus, Tajikistan)
Financed pro-government propaganda sites (Russia)

REGIONAL TRENDS: MENA
Region where overall media environment benefited significantly from greater internet access.
A major force behind numerical improvements in several countries and Egypt’s upgrade to Partly Free.
Various methods of control employed:
Crackdown on online dissent, especially bloggers critical of government (Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iran)
Blocking websites (Syria, Iran)
Filtering and monitoring through government-owned ISPs (Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, UAE)
Requiring user and website ownership registration (Syria, Iran, Kuwait)

THOUGHTS
Despite variation across regions, clear similarities in mechanisms of repression and internet users’ efforts to ‘push the envelope.’
Overall, internet has the potential to be a force for more open political discussion and civil society mobilization
Facebook protests in Egypt, demonstrations in Malaysia, anti pollution protests in China, online petitions in Singapore.

BUT, such openness is not inevitable as repressive governments commit significant funds to curb information flow.
Such efforts need to be countered by more serious commitment from international community to keep internet free.

More information is available on our website at www.freedomhouse.org or by contacting Robert Guerra at guerra @ freedomhouse. org

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Internet Freedom & Internet Bill of Rights

by Freedom House on Jul 30, 2008

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Internet Freedom & Internet Bill of Rights — Presentation Transcript