The global decline in internet freedom has now reached the 13th consecutive year in 2023, and among the countries where internet freedom is suppressed and controlled, China has been ranked as the worst for 9 consecutive years, while Myanmar is still in second place, according to the US-based Freedom House.
This year, Iran became the first and the Philippines became the second among the countries where Internet censorship suddenly worsened. After that, Belarus Costa Rica and Nicaragua followed behind.
Of the 70 countries surveyed by Freedom House's Freedom on the Net project, 29 countries report that online human rights abuses are worsening. In 20 of these countries, the situation regarding online human rights has improved, he said.
According to a survey conducted on Myanmar, the Myanmar military has acted to prevent the freedom to use the Internet. He said that the number of Internet users in Myanmar has dropped significantly due to the spread of false information and the destruction of the infrastructure needed to connect to the Internet.
Millions of ordinary civilians in Burma were cut off due to short-term internet blackouts in regions to prevent information from being sent and distributed among the opposition.
After the departure of 2 foreign-owned telecommunication companies, all telecommunications services in Myanmar have been directly or indirectly under the control of the military, and information interception and surveillance are being carried out without hindrance, he said.
People currently using the Internet can only visit and use about 1,500 websites approved by the military, and Burmese people have to go through other services to access banned websites and internet services.
According to a Freedom House report, thousands of civilians have been arrested and jailed for years because of their writing and dissemination on the Internet.
In addition, as artificial intelligence (AI) technology advances, human rights abuses and restrictions on freedoms online are getting worse, Freedom House said.
The exciting development of AI technology, scientific research, At the same time that they are widely used in education and daily social life, the rapidity of AI technology, Digital compression and ease of computing large amounts of data. They have also been used in online harassment.
Dictatorships have used the automation capabilities of AI to improve online censorship, and propaganda lobbies have used computer-generated photos, sound, By using letters, people who don't know can be deceived more easily than before.
Sophisticated and improved technology surveillance systems are connected online, making it easier than ever to detect and monitor signs of opposition.
Millions of data have been linked to screen-reading proof-reading machines and people who protested for democracy can be easily tracked down and arrested.
These advances in technology have created new pressures on Internet freedom, which is under serious threat, according to a Freedom House report.
