Major Taiwanese news network Liberty Times Network (LTN) recently reported that the U.S. human rights organization Freedom House just released its annual Freedom on the Net Report. For the seventh consecutive year China has been ranked as the country with the worst Internet freedom in the world. Meanwhile, Taiwan was included in the appraisal for the first time. It ranked the fifth out of 70 countries, taking the top spot in the Asia-Pacific region. Freedom House’s evaluation criteria include three indicators: obstacles to access, limits on content, and violations of user rights. China has been ranked at the bottom of the list for seven consecutive years, behind Cuba, Myanmar and Iran. The Chinese government remains the world’s worst online freedom violator. The Report pointed out that now, in 2021, one of the most censored topics in China is still content related to the Covid-19 virus. China’s official media, its official social media accounts, and other government-related accounts are flooding cyberspace with false claims on the dangers of U.S. vaccines as well as the source of the coronavirus. The highest ranked countries are Iceland and Estonia; Canada and Costa Rica are tied for the third place.
Sources: LTN, September 21, 2021
https://ec.ltn.com.tw/article/breakingnews/3678934
world’s worst abuser of internet freedom for the seventh consecutive year