Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements and Sources

Freedom on the Net is a collaborative effort between Freedom House and a network of experts from civil society organizations, academia, journalism, and other backgrounds. For experts working in repressive environments, Freedom House ensures anonymity in order to protect their safety.

The Freedom on the Net team expresses gratitude to the global internet freedom community, including the many individuals and organizations whose tireless and courageous work informs this report.

This report was made possible by the generous support of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Google, Internet Society, and The New York Community Trust, as well as through Freedom House’s partnership with Rutgers Democracy Lab (RDL).

Freedom House is committed to editorial independence and is solely responsible for this report’s content.

Contributors

Research Team

• Yana Gorokhovskaia, Director of Research and Analysis
• Cathryn Grothe, Senior Research Analyst for Democracy Studies
• Amy Slipowitz, Research Manager for Democracy Studies
• Grady Vaughan, Research Analyst
• Kian Vesteinsson, Deputy Director of Research and Analysis

Shannon O’Toole edited Freedom on the Net and the policy recommendations were authored by Jennifer Brody. Jamie Fly and Katie LaRoque provided valuable feedback on the summary of findings. Elizabeth Sutterlin served as a research consultant.

RDL staff Eyal Hanfling and Atl Castro Asmussen advised on the report’s findings. RDL interns, including Ashiyana Ahamed, Amanda Goceljak, and Seleena Busi, provided essential research support.

Independent Experts

• Aliya Bhatia, Center for Democracy & Technology
• Atnafu Brhane Ayalew, independent researcher
• Givi Chanukvadze, information resilience and digital ecosystems expert
• Sarkis Darbinyan, RKS Global
• Digital Rights Lab Sudan
• Eduardo Ferreyra, independent researcher
• Olga Kyryliuk, independent researcher
• Artur Pericles Lima Monteiro, Yale Law School and Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs
• Gürkan Özturan, European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF)
• Lizzie O'Shea, Digital Rights Watch
• Smitha K. Prasad, Georgetown University Law Center
• Iria Puyosa, independent researcher
• Amir Rashidi, Miaan Group
• Vladimir Cortés Roshdestvensky, independent researcher
• Southeast Asia Freedom of Expression Network (SAFEnet)
• Oliver Spencer, Human Rights Myanmar

Independent experts from Bangladesh, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, and the Gambia wished to remain anonymous.

A Note on Additional Sources and Data

This report’s main essay, data points, and policy recommendations were informed by research for Freedom on the Net’s summaries of country-specific developments, which benefited from the perspectives of the independent experts listed above. 

Country-specific data can be downloaded at freedomonthenet.org, and each summary of country-specific developments is available at https://freedomhouse.org/countries/freedom-net/scores.