In our previous two posts (1, 2), we covered various issues related online security for both individuals and companies. Today, we look at online censorship around the world.
But first, we need to consider the two main types of online censorship. Depending on the country, we may face one or both of these types:
- Access to certain sites such as Facebook may be prohibited.
- Certain types of content may be be prohibited.
(1) remains a big problem in many countries. While (2) persists as an especially controversial topic in the United States and elsewhere. Why? As we have seen in recent years, a lot of “fake news” and inflammatory content exist on the Internet. Thus, which of this content should be OK to post? Which shouldn’t be? And who gets to decide what is OK? As well as what is not OK?
Variations in Online Censorship Around the World
According to Simon Migliano, Editor-in-Chief of Top 10 VPN:
“In addition to direct methods of censorship, the utilization of content manipulation tactics rose in the past year. And these tactics included the use of automated bots and paid commentators. In addition, this type of manipulation is much more difficult to detect than traditional methods of censorship. Thus making it harder for the average user to determine if they’re forming valid opinions. And if they make decisions from factual news or from news created by sponsored commentators.”
“How free are you online? While most of us take Internet freedom for granted, in reality, many countries use a variety of tactics to censor the information citizens are able to access. Access to the Internet in democratic countries may seem a given. Yet, less than one-fourth of the world’s Internet users reside in countries with a technically designated ‘free’ Internet. Do you live in one of them?”
Now, look at these detailed infographics on censorship around the world from Top 10 VPN.
