Will online censorship become the “norm?

”
While it’s no great surprise to see the likes of China, North Korea, and
Iran topping the list, the growing number of restrictions in many other
countries is greatly concerning. This year we saw more than 50
countries increase their internet censorship in some way, compared to
27 from last year’s study. Most of the new restrictions surround social
media/apps, political media, and pornography.

With the growing introduction of age-verification systems in the likes

of the UK, US, and Germany and new online laws that enable
governments to monitor and often censor social media, our digital
privacy is at increasing risk.

Thankfully, VPNs do still offer a way for many of us to surf the net
privately (and legally). But as censorship becomes increasingly
common, more and more countries could join the restricted list,
leaving many unable to access the open web.

Methodology
To find out to what extent each country is censored, we studied what
restrictions, if any, they impose across torrents, pornography, political
media, social media, VPNs, and messaging/VoIP apps.

We scored each country on six criteria. Each of these is worth two

points aside from messaging/VoIP apps which is worth one (this is
due to many countries banning or restricting certain apps but allowing
ones run by the government/telecoms providers within the country). A
country receives one point if the content—torrents, pornography,
news media, social media, VPNs, messaging/VoIP apps—is restricted
but accessible, and two points if it is banned entirely. The higher the
score, the more censorship.

In this revisit, we noted pornography restrictions when OnlyFans had

been banned or restricted in the country.

In some cases, countries may be scored as having banned one of

these areas, but residents may find ways to circumnavigate these
bans, e.g. with VPNs or mirror sites. However, as the country enforces
this ban by blocking websites or implementing laws, the country is
scored as having banned it. On the other hand, if a country has
brought in regulations to try and restrict or ban an area but users
continue to be able to freely use these services/websites, the country
is only scored as being “restricted” because the regulations/laws
aren’t being enforced.

Data researcher: Rebecca Moody

Sources
Rsf.org

https://freedomhouse.org/

For a full list of sources, please request access here (stating your
name and requirements).

Internet censorship FAQs

What is the Communications Decency Act (CDA)?
The Communications Decency Act (CDA) was the United States
Congress’s first attempt to regulate pornographic material on the
Internet. The CDA was introduced as part of the Telecommunications
Act of 1996. The CDA made it a crime to use any telecommunications
device to send or receive obscene or indecent material. The CDA also
created a safe harbor for Internet service providers, shielding them
from liability for user-generated content.

How big of a problem is censorship in schools?

Censorship in schools is a growing problem that has recently gained
more attention. With the rise of technology, it has become easier for
school administrators to monitor and control the content students are
exposed to. This can lead to issues such as limiting access to
important information and resources or preventing students from
expressing their opinions.