WASHINGTON—Internet freedom in Europe declined over the past year, with three countries under review experiencing deterioration and only one recording a net gain, according to a new report released today by Freedom House. Freedom House analyzed online rights in 10 countries in the region.
The report, Freedom on the Net 2024: The Struggle for Trust Online, attributed the region’s decline in part to increased online surveillance. Content manipulation and censorship were also problems in certain countries. Ahead of December 2023 elections in Serbia, for example, online progovernment media outlets actively campaigned for the ruling party. In Turkey, the government imprisoned Kurdish politicians for their social media posts and blocked virtual private network (VPN) services. In a more promising development, countries across the European Union (EU) began implementing the Digital Services Act, which compels social media platforms and search engines to standardize content removal processes, boost transparency, and bolster risk mitigation measures. One EU member state, the Netherlands, was assessed for the first time in this year’s edition of Freedom on the Net, debuting as the world’s sixth freest environment out of 72 countries under analysis.
Other findings on Europe include:
Highest and lowest scores: Iceland earned the highest score in the region, with 94 points on the report’s 100-point scale, and was rated Free. Turkey, with 31, was the lowest-scoring country in the region and was rated Not Free, though it was also the only country of the 10 to improve its score during the year, gaining 1 point.
Biggest declines: Estonia (92), Serbia (70), and the United Kingdom (78) accounted for the region’s three overall score declines, with each suffering a net loss of 1 point.
Beyond Europe, 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 10 countries studied as part of this region are: Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Netherlands, Serbia, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.
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, Asia-Pacific, Eurasia, Middle East.
To schedule an interview with Freedom House experts, please contact Maryam Iftikhar at [email protected] or (202) 747-7064.
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.
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Publish date : 2024-10-15 21:04:00
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