Internet freedom in Azerbaijan is deteriorating - Freedom House

Baku/01.11.18/Turan: Freedom House, an international human rights organization, published a report on the state of the world Internet freedom in 2018 Freedom on the Net 2018. The report says that governments around the world are stepping up control over citizen information, using fake news to harass dissent and thus undermine trust in the Internet and the foundations of democracy. Internet propaganda and misinformation are increasingly poisoning the digital realm. All this contributed in 2018 to the decline of Internet freedom. At the same time, it is especially noted that China applies and transfers equipment for tracking users to the Internet to other countries. Such technology of persecution from Beijing buy Azerbaijan and Armenia too. The report explores the situation in 65 countries. Estimates are given on a 100-point scale. At the same time, 0 is an indicator of higher freedom, - 100 - the lowest freedom. In the interval 0, the freedoms of the country are assigned, 31-60 - partially free 61-100 - not free countries. Azerbaijan appeared on the 60th place - on the border between partially free and not free countries. Azerbaijan is located between Cambodia (59) and Kazakhstan (61). Azerbaijan"s neighbors Georgia and Armenia occupy 25th and 27th places. The authors note a decrease of internet freedom in 2017-18. The transition of Armenia from among partially free countries to the category of free, according to the authors of the report, is connected with the decisive role of the velvet revolution in this country. The three most free countries were Estonia (6 points), Iceland (6 points) and Canada (15 points). The top five free countries also include the USA (22 points) and the United Kingdom (23). - 16D06-