Hafizzz
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India had sharpest fall in internet freedom, report says - The Times of India
Indias commitment to web freedom was found to be not only been worse than developed countries but also inferior to countries such as Malawi, Tunisia and Mexico. (TOI photo by N Narasimha Murthy)
NEW DELHI: India suffered the sharpest single-year decline in web freedom around the world in 2013, a US-based organization, Freedom House, said in a report on the state of the internet in 60 countries.
The report said India's internet status was "partly free", the same as last year. But the country's score had risen in the past year from 39 to 47 points. Higher score means more censorship. The eight-point rise is the steepest Freedom House found among the 60 countries surveyed.
Net freedom also declined sharply in the US, Brazil and Venezuela, all of which recorded a five-point rise in censorship score. Despite the mass surveillance revealed by Edward Snowden, a former contractor for National Security Agency in the US, Freedom House said internet in America was "free".
The report said that in 2013 India "suffered from deliberate interruptions of mobile and internet service to limit unrest, excessive blocks on content during rioting in northeastern states, and an uptick in the filing of criminal charges against ordinary users for posts on social media sites".
'Worse than Tunisia'
India's commitment to web freedom was found to be not only been worse than developed countries but also inferior to countries such as Malawi, Tunisia and Mexico.
Freedom House particularly singled out the central monitoring system which the Indian government is putting in place to screen web usage within the country. "Surveillance (under CMS) requires no judicial oversight. While some of this activity might be justifiable, the lack of transparency surrounding the system, which was never reviewed by Parliament, is concerning," the report notes.
"The system's potential for abuse is also disquieting, as is its inadequate legal framework," it adds.
The report cites cases such as the arrest of a girl in Maharashtra for liking a Facebook post, blocking of some Twitter accounts belonging to Indian users, overly broad court directives that have resulted in blocking of websites and a general lack of transparency in how Indian government blocks or filters content.
Sunil Abraham, director at Bangalore-based Centre for Internet and Society, said Freedom House reports were not very accurate because they did not factor in censorship by copyright holders. But he agreed that conditions for web users in India were getting more difficult.
"The report is absolutely right in pointing out that censorship and surveillance in India is increasing. Despite protests from many quarters, it is a real pity that the government is not taking steps to amend the IT act and has joined other nation states in the global race to the bottom for curbing internet freedom," said Abraham.
Anja Kovacs, founder of Delhi-based Internet Democracy Project, agreed. "I have some issues with Freedom House reports mainly how they are prepared and their methodologies. But yes, I can say that last year has been very eventful and difficult. At the same time, there has also been a lot of push back from web users and activists. There have been conversations around the issue of web censorship, which is good," she said.
Globally, web surveillance is on the rise, the report said. "Broad surveillance, new laws controlling web content and growing arrests of social-media users drove a worldwide decline in internet freedom in the past year," Freedom House noted.
Overall, 34 out of the 60 countries saw a decline in web freedom. "Vietnam and Ethiopia continued on a worsening cycle of repression; Venezuela stepped up censorship during presidential elections; and three democracies India, the United States, and Brazil saw troubling declines," noted the report.
Iceland and Estonia topped the list of countries with the greatest degree of internet freedom. China, Cuba, and Iran were found to be the most repressive countries.
Indias commitment to web freedom was found to be not only been worse than developed countries but also inferior to countries such as Malawi, Tunisia and Mexico. (TOI photo by N Narasimha Murthy)
NEW DELHI: India suffered the sharpest single-year decline in web freedom around the world in 2013, a US-based organization, Freedom House, said in a report on the state of the internet in 60 countries.
The report said India's internet status was "partly free", the same as last year. But the country's score had risen in the past year from 39 to 47 points. Higher score means more censorship. The eight-point rise is the steepest Freedom House found among the 60 countries surveyed.
Net freedom also declined sharply in the US, Brazil and Venezuela, all of which recorded a five-point rise in censorship score. Despite the mass surveillance revealed by Edward Snowden, a former contractor for National Security Agency in the US, Freedom House said internet in America was "free".
The report said that in 2013 India "suffered from deliberate interruptions of mobile and internet service to limit unrest, excessive blocks on content during rioting in northeastern states, and an uptick in the filing of criminal charges against ordinary users for posts on social media sites".
'Worse than Tunisia'
India's commitment to web freedom was found to be not only been worse than developed countries but also inferior to countries such as Malawi, Tunisia and Mexico.
Freedom House particularly singled out the central monitoring system which the Indian government is putting in place to screen web usage within the country. "Surveillance (under CMS) requires no judicial oversight. While some of this activity might be justifiable, the lack of transparency surrounding the system, which was never reviewed by Parliament, is concerning," the report notes.
"The system's potential for abuse is also disquieting, as is its inadequate legal framework," it adds.
The report cites cases such as the arrest of a girl in Maharashtra for liking a Facebook post, blocking of some Twitter accounts belonging to Indian users, overly broad court directives that have resulted in blocking of websites and a general lack of transparency in how Indian government blocks or filters content.
Sunil Abraham, director at Bangalore-based Centre for Internet and Society, said Freedom House reports were not very accurate because they did not factor in censorship by copyright holders. But he agreed that conditions for web users in India were getting more difficult.
"The report is absolutely right in pointing out that censorship and surveillance in India is increasing. Despite protests from many quarters, it is a real pity that the government is not taking steps to amend the IT act and has joined other nation states in the global race to the bottom for curbing internet freedom," said Abraham.
Anja Kovacs, founder of Delhi-based Internet Democracy Project, agreed. "I have some issues with Freedom House reports mainly how they are prepared and their methodologies. But yes, I can say that last year has been very eventful and difficult. At the same time, there has also been a lot of push back from web users and activists. There have been conversations around the issue of web censorship, which is good," she said.
Globally, web surveillance is on the rise, the report said. "Broad surveillance, new laws controlling web content and growing arrests of social-media users drove a worldwide decline in internet freedom in the past year," Freedom House noted.
Overall, 34 out of the 60 countries saw a decline in web freedom. "Vietnam and Ethiopia continued on a worsening cycle of repression; Venezuela stepped up censorship during presidential elections; and three democracies India, the United States, and Brazil saw troubling declines," noted the report.
Iceland and Estonia topped the list of countries with the greatest degree of internet freedom. China, Cuba, and Iran were found to be the most repressive countries.
.. Same report puts Pakistan at the lowest level on the freedom scale 
.. And this forum is based in USA. Not Pakistan
