Internet freedoms are slowly eroding

INTERNET FREEDOM is being slowly eroded, according to a report sponsored by the United Nations and written by Freedomhouse.org.

The report looked at Internet freedoms in 37 nation states and found, not surprisingly, that some nations were pretty good, while some were particularly bad.

Estonia, then, was deemed to be the land of the free, with other places including the UK, Australia, Germany and the US playing second fiddle. Iran, Cuba and China were found to be the very worst of the worst.

How good or bad a country is, with regard to Internet freedom, was worked out in a variety of ways, and points were added to a ranking depending on three things - obstacles to access, limits on content, and violation of user rights.

The first of these is based on the infrastructural and economic barriers to access, as well as government efforts to block applications and technologies as well as what regulatory or other controls are in place.

The second, limits on content, looked at what blocks or web filters are in place as well as any other forms of censorship or filtering, and the last, violations of users rights, looked at what restrictions are placed on online activity, for example through surveillance.

Free countries were awarded scores of between 0 and 30, partly free 31 to 60, and not free 61 to 100. Estonia earned itself just ten points, the UK 25, China 83 and Iran 89.

Before the UK pats itself on the back too much, its score has actually increased over the last year, suggesting that freedom is gradually being eroded here in Blighty, something that anyone taking a glance at the Digital Economy Act could likely have worked out on their own.

"Both the government and private parties have presented challenges to free speech in connection with antiterrorism efforts, public order, and intellectual property," said the report. "The biggest recent controversy was the adoption of the Digital Economy Act in April 2010."

Also working against the UK is the butterfly on a wheel Paul Chambers Twitter case, the report said. "In efforts to combat terrorism, the government has taken measures against users who post or download information perceived as a security threat, including one case of a man convicted for using Twitter to express dismay at the closing of a local airport and writing that he would blow up the airport if it did not reopen within a week," it added.

Both Iran and China are continuing to polish the jackboots with which they stamp on their citizens' Internet connections, and since 2009, when the last study was carried out, they have added at least ten points to their rankings.

Iran takes the crown for worst state by dominating the Web 2.0 applications blocked, political censorship, bloggers arrested and no freedom of the press league tables. µ