The countries of Central Asia are in the group of countries with non-free internet, the annual report of the Freedom House on the freedom of the Internet says.
According to Freedom House, Kyrgyzstan is still the only country in the region where the Internet is at least partially free. Kyrgyzstan is at the 36th place (53 points) out of 70 countries.
Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, where authorities restricted access to mobile and wired internet during protests, remain countries with non-free internet. They are at the 53rd (32 points) and the 60th (27 points) places, respectively.
Tajikistan and Turkmenistan are not in the ranking at all.
The current rating is compiled by Freedom House based on data received between June 1, 2021 and May 31, 2022. The participants in the rating were evaluated according to three main criteria: obstacles to accessing the Internet, restrictions on access to content, and violation of user rights.
The top five countries with the freest internet include Iceland (95 points), Estonia (93 points), Costa Rica (88 points), Canada (87 points), Taiwan (79 points) and the United Kingdom (79 points). In last place for the eighth year in a row is China (10 points).
The authors of the report emphasize that global freedom on the Internet has fallen for the twelfth year in a row. The situation has worsened in 28 countries and improved in 26 over the past year.
Source: Aki Press
