Press release October 16, 2024
Internet Freedom in the Asia-Pacific Region Declined in 2024
Myanmar tied with China to rank as the world’s worst environments for internet freedom.
WASHINGTON—Internet freedom in the Asia-Pacific region deteriorated over the past year, with five countries recording net gains and seven countries experiencing declines, according to a new report released today by Freedom House. Freedom House analyzed online rights in 17 countries in the region.
The report, Freedom on the Net 2024: The Struggle for Trust Online, found that a number of governments in the region imposed new legal and technical restrictions on online speech and actively enforced existing ones. Several governments also subjected independent online media outlets to retaliation for their reporting, and progovernment commentators manipulated online discussions ahead of important elections. In addition, internet users in many countries—especially journalists, activists, and human rights defenders—continued to face arbitrary arrests, harassment, and violence for their online activities.
Despite this overall deterioration, there were some improvements. Taiwan, which has the highest score in the region, recorded no politicized arrests for online speech during the coverage period, and the online information landscape in Japan, a country with an already robust internet freedom environment, appeared to be less distorted than in previous years.
Other findings on the Asia-Pacific region include:
Myanmar and China ranked as the world’s worst environments for internet freedom. Myanmar’s score declined (−1) to tie with China for the worst total score in the report: 9 on a 100-point scale. The year marked the first time in a decade that any country has ranked as low as China.
Websites hosting political, social, and/or religious content were blocked in 14 of the 17 countries assessed in the region. In Cambodia, a week before general elections, the government blocked the news outlets Radio Free Asia and Cambodia Daily. The government also blocked access to Kamnotra, a database launched by the Cambodian Center for Independent Media that compiled public information on government decisions and land disputes. The sites remained blocked through the end of the coverage period.
Internet users were arrested, imprisoned, or detained in retaliation for their online speech in 14 of the 17 countries assessed. In Myanmar, a musician who went by Min Oat Myanmar was sentenced to 20 years in prison for criticizing coup leader Min Aung Hlaing on a Facebook live stream.
Highest score: Taiwan, with 79 points, earned the highest score in the region and was rated Free.
Largest improvement, biggest declines: Indonesia (49) had the largest score improvement (+2), due to improved fixed-line internet speeds and the unblocking of websites and platforms that had been blocked during the previous coverage period for failing to register under a sweeping content moderation law. South Korea (66), Malaysia (60), the Philippines (60), Singapore (53), Cambodia (43), Bangladesh (40), and Myanmar (9) all declined by 1 point, tying for the region’s largest score decrease.
Beyond the Asia-Pacific region, Freedom on the Net 2024 found that global internet freedom declined for the 14th consecutive year. Governments in at least 25 of the 72 countries under analysis cut off internet access, restricted access to social media platforms, or blocked websites hosting political, social, and religious speech during electoral periods, often with the intention of shaping the results. Governments also turned to arrests, violence, and other forms of repression to silence online speech outside of electoral periods. In at least 56 countries, internet users were arrested due to their political, social, or religious expression. People were physically attacked or killed in retaliation for their online activities in a record high of at least 43 countries. Some of the most serious abuses took place in the context of armed conflicts. Internet shutdowns amid such fighting plunged civilians into information vacuums, prevented journalists from reporting on the violence, and hampered the delivery of lifesaving aid.
Freedom on the Net is an annual study of human rights in the digital sphere. The project now assesses internet freedom in 72 countries, accounting for 87 percent of the world’s internet users. This report, the 14th in its series, covered developments between June 2023 and May 2024. Chile and the Netherlands were assessed for the first time this year and serve as global models for internet freedom, with Chile’s score (86) placing it third in a tie with Canada, and the Netherlands earning the sixth-highest score (83). More than 95 analysts and advisers contributed to this year’s edition, using a standard methodology to determine each country’s internet freedom score on a 100-point scale, with 21 separate indicators pertaining to obstacles to access, limits on content, and violations of user rights.
The 17 countries studied as part of this region were: Australia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Click here to read the full report and policy recommendations. Click here to read translated versions of the news release: Arabic, French, Chinese (simplified), Chinese (traditional), Russian, Spanish. Click here to read additional, regionally focused news releases: Africa, Americas, Eurasia, Europe, Middle East.
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Freedom House is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that works to create a world where all are free. We inform the world about threats to freedom, mobilize global action, and support democracy’s defenders.