More than 55 countries sign a declaration for internet freedom
AxiosOct 18, 2022
Report: China, Myanmar Place Last in Internet Freedom Rankings
Above: Four young people surf the Internet on their mobile phones in Shandong province, China, on Feb. 16, 2024. Image copyright: CFOTO/Contributor/Future Publishing via Getty Images
The Facts
According to the latest Freedom House internet freedom report, global online freedom has worsened for the 14th year in a row, with 27 out of 72 countries analyzed declining in freedom and China and Myanmar coming tied in last place.
The report cites China's "great firewall," which blocks any content opposed to the ruling Communist Party. As for Myanmar's drop in the rankings, it cites the military junta's recent ban of virtual private networks (VPNs).
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
The draconian internet laws of China and Myanmar leave virtually no room for free thought among their respective populations. Not only is the entire internet essentially censored by these governments, but such restrictions lead to the silencing and arrests of journalists and activists. Neither of these countries can claim to support freedom until they create free and honest speech forums.
Establishment-critical narrative
Biased reports like this should not distract from how Western countries impose their own censorship regimes. The US military has used artificial intelligence to identify and scrub online speech it doesn't like for years, most notably during COVID and the 2020 election. This is still going on in both Europe and the US. A report like this is skewed to the Western viewpoint.