Does Access to the Internet Impact an Individual's Freedom?
This website explores the impact internet access has on an individual's freedom and whether internet access inhibits or increases freedom in different regions of the world. By considering this topic on a global scale, we can see how freedom in society and culture within different regions of world vary according to internet access.
History of the Internet
The internet was invented in the 1960s and “originally connected only a few computers at American universities and was government-funded”.₁ However in 1989, the “Web” was created by Tim Berners-Lee. The Web “added visual richness and user-friendliness, while Web browsers such as Mosaic, Explorer, Safari, and Firefox soon made the Web easy to navigate”.₁
The internet’s growth and expansion also allowed for globalization. Globalization “refers to the recent explosive growth in all kinds of connections between different parts of the world: trade, cultural exchange, political cooperation, international legal systems”.₁
According to the Internet Society’s website, “Today, more than 3.4 billion people across the globe, roughly 46% of the world’s population, have internet access, and its impact is borne out by statistics: Every single day, more than 200 billion emails are sent, 140,000 websites created and 500 million tweets posted. But behind each email, website and tweet are people. Fundamentally, the internet is the platform for creativity and innovation that has resulted in positive economic and social impact”.₂
Ranking System
The ranking system used throughout this webpage is based on Freedom on the Net's 2018 rankings.₃ The rankings of each of the countries discussed in this webpage from this resource are listed below. The scoring process is based on 21 questions, and those questions have over 100 subquestions.
Each of these questions is weighted according to level of freedom. Then the points are added up to determine the country’s overall score. A score closer to zero is good because zero means freedom. The questions consider three main themes. These themes are “obstacles to access”, “limits on content”, and "violation of user rights”.₃
Obstacles to access “details infrastructural and economic barriers to access, legal and ownership control over internet service providers, and independence of regulatory bodies”.₃
Limits on content“analyzes legal regulations on content, technical filtering and blocking of websites, self-censorship, the vibrancy and diversity of online news media, and the use of digital tools for civic mobilization”.₃
Violations of user rights “tackles surveillance, privacy, and repercussions for online speech and activities, such as imprisonment, extralegal harassment, or cyberattacks.”₃
Countries in Order of Internet Freedom:₄ 1. Germany (19/100) 2. United States (22/100) 3. Brazil (31/100) 4. Nigeria (37/100) 5. China (88/100) *The lower the number, the more internet freedom the country has.