Myanmar, Cuba, and Ethiopia have the least internet freedom within global south
Myanmar, Cuba, and Ethiopia have the lowest internet freedom scores within the global south, a new report from Freedom House reveals.
Myanmar ranks at the bottom with a score of just 9 out of 100, the lowest among Asian nations and across the six regions analyzed.
Other countries like Cuba and Ethiopia also scored poorly, receiving 20 and 27 points, respectively, making them the least free in Latin America and Africa. The study ranked internet freedom in 72 countries, assessing both improvements and declines across various political landscapes.
Countries were scored on a scale from 100, indicating the most-free, down to 0, marking the least free. The report evaluates each country in three areas: access to the internet, restrictions on online content, and protection of user rights.
Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, Belarus, Vietnam, Cuba, Russia, Iran, China and Myanmar were among the 10 lowest-scoring countries in the entire rankings.
Iceland topped the rankings with a score of 94 as the most internet-free country around the world. Estonia, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Netherlands, Taiwan, Japan, United Kingdom, and Germany followed with high numbers of 86, 86, 85, 83, 79, 78, 78 and 77 respectively.
The Freedom on the Net 2024 report measures the subtle and not-so-subtle ways that governments and non-state actors around the world restrict online rights.
Countries were rated based on government influence, ownership and control of internet access to citizens, legal regulations on content and censorship, as well as restrictions on free expression and legal consequences of online activities among others.
