14 DAY TRIAL // Internet freedom is something most of us take for granted, but things aren’t the same all over the world.
According to a new report from the non-profit Freedom House, 34 out of 60 countries it surveyed have suffered a falloff in Internet freedom over the past year alone.
The 2013 "Freedom on the Net" report indicates Iran, Cuba, China and Syria were just a few of the countries where restrictions were the greatest.
China blocks millions of websites and its army of employees that help with this issue transforms the country into one with the most elaborate technological apparatus for Internet censorship.
At the other end of the spectrum, Iceland, Estonia and Germany take the podium with the highest ranks, with the United States following closely.
However, the latter has experienced one of the steepest drops, mostly due to the revelations regarding the NSA surveillance programs.
“Critics have raised concern that the secret NSA programs may violate the 4th Amendment of the United States constitution, which protects people inside the United States (citizens and non-citizens alike) from unreasonable search and seizure, as well as human rights enshrined in International agreements,” the report reads.
In over half of the countries monitored by the Freedom House, the government either obtained a more sophisticated surveillance technology, increased the scope of people monitored or passed a new law giving it greater monitoring authority.
Many countries are also making the transition from technological to legal, as they battle the right to free speech.
“While blocking and filtering remain the preferred methods of censorship in many countries, governments are increasingly looking at who is saying what online and finding ways to punish them,” said the project director. “In some countries, a user can get arrested for simply posting on Facebook or for “liking” a friend’s comment that is critical of the authorities.”