So, as mentioned in an earlier post, I was considering creating a map detailing which countries restricted their citizenry to internet access through state-controlled ISPs. While not as specific or up-to-date as I'd like, Wikipedia provides a rough idea. Guess which region of the world contains the most areas considered "Internet black holes" by Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans Frontieres, RSF)?
According to RSF, a black label on the map means "Heavy Surveillance" by the state - see the full Wiki article on Internet Censorship for a fuller explanation - on their aptly named "Enemies of the Internet" list, which includes:
According to RSF, a black label on the map means "Heavy Surveillance" by the state - see the full Wiki article on Internet Censorship for a fuller explanation - on their aptly named "Enemies of the Internet" list, which includes:
- Burma
- China
- Cuba
- Iran
- North Korea
- Saudi Arabia
- Syria
- Turkmenistan
- Uzbekistan
- Vietnam
From my understanding, a good number of nations that didn't make the list aren't all that cyber-friendly either. Supposedly, Libya labored to prevent ALL internet access and Egypt heavily censored content (literally "pulling the plug" on the Internet recently - more on that in a later post). Those situations may have changed somewhat in light of recent events, but it is still chilling to consider a government that is willing and able to deny internet communication to its citizens. Transparency, as they are aware, is an existential threat to their ability subjugate the people living within their borders.
Burma represents a nearly unique case (also the subject of an upcoming post). Ruled by a brutal military junta, Burma/Myanmar is one of the most anonymously repressive places on the planet. Between nuclear military ambitions, government-backed opium smuggling, human trafficking, and strangling censorship, Burma certainly may be one of the worst human rights offenders in the world. Strange that the media doesn't cover it more. If only more visibly interesting suffering were occurring, maybe the Western media would devote more time to the subject (to their credit, I'm not sure how whether it's even possible to get into Burma with a news team, but that's the point of this blog/organization, isn't it?)
For clarification (and to forestall any accusations of geographical ignorance on my part) I should emphasize that the map and list in the post above are drawn from different sources (RSF vs. Wikipedia).
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