China World’s Worst Environment In Internet Freedom For 8 Straight Years: Study

New study says that conditions for internet users in China remained profoundly oppressive and confirmed the country’s status as the world’s worst abuser of internet freedom for the eighth consecutive year. 

China was given the Internet Freedom Score of 10 out of 100. 

The report surmised that in the last year Chinese authorities censored social media posts critical of the government’s stringent COVID-19 lockdown measures while ordinary users continued to face severe legal and extralegal repercussions for activities like sharing news stories, talking about their religious beliefs, or communicating with family members and others overseas.

In addition, authorities also yielded their immense power over the tech industry through new legislation, regulatory investigations, and app store removals for alleged privacy violations.

The report said China’s authoritarian regime has become increasingly repressive in recent years as the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) continues to tighten its control over the state bureaucracy, the media, online speech, religious groups, universities, businesses, and civil society associations, and it has undermined its own already modest rule-of-law reforms.

“Censorship intensified during the 2022 Beijing Olympics and after tennis star Peng Shuai accused a high-ranking Chinese Communist Party (CCP) official of sexual assault”, highlighted the report.

Freedom on the Net 2022 report also noted that internet freedom globally has declined for the 12th consecutive year. The environment for human rights online deteriorated in 28 countries.

The sharpest decline in internet freedom occurred in Russia, followed by Myanmar, Sudan, and Libya, while The Gambia and Zimbabwe experienced major improvements. The US ranked ninth overall and Iceland was once again the top performer.

Meanwhile, internet freedom in India marginally improved over the last year after four years of decline, according to the report. India scored 51 out of 100 in internet freedom.