Internet Freedom in Eurasia Declined in 2024

WASHINGTON-Internet freedom in Eurasia declined over the past year, with five countries recording net gains and two experiencing deterioration, according to a new reportreleased today by Freedom House. Freedom House analyzed online rights in nine countries in the region.

The report, Freedom on the Net 2024: The Struggle for Trust Online, found that many governments in the region restricted and retaliated against efforts to mobilize civic activism online. The Kremlin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine continued to undermine internet freedom in that country, where the Russian military has destroyed critical internet infrastructure and established a sophisticated censorship regime in occupied territories. Repercussions from the invasion were also felt in Russia, as the government prosecuted users for criticizing the war online and blocked social media platforms to suppress uncensored information. Other governments in Eurasia maintained support for friendly news outlets and employed networks of inauthentic social media accounts to advance their preferred narratives.

Other findings on Eurasia include:

• Internet users were physically attacked or killed in retaliation for their online speech and activism in seven of the nine Eurasian countries under analysis. In Azerbaijan, journalist Imran Aliyev, who founded a website that publishes data about the parliament, reported that law enforcement officers had tortured him with electric shocks to force him to confess to bogus smuggling charges.

• Progovernment commentators manipulated the online information space in all nine of the countries surveyed. A June 2023 investigation by Kyrgyzstan-based news outlet CheckitMedia revealed that a network of fake Facebook accounts linked to that country's state broadcaster had denigrated independent media and civil society.

• Highest and lowest scores: Armenia and Georgia tied to earn the region's highest score, with 74 points on the report's 100-point scale, and both were rated Free. Russia was the lowest-scoring country in the region, with 20 points, and was rated Not Free.

• Largest improvements, biggest decline: Armenia (74) and Uzbekistan (27) registered the largest score improvements (+2). Kyrgyzstan (34) had the largest score decline (−4).

Beyond Eurasia, Freedom on the Net 2024found that global internet freedom declined for the 14th consecutive year. Governments in at least 25 of the 72 countries under analysis cut off internet access, restricted access to social media platforms, or blocked websites hosting political, social, and religious speech during electoral periods, often with the intention of shaping the results. Governments also turned to arrests, violence, and other forms of repression to silence online speech outside of electoral periods. In at least 56 countries, internet users were arrested due to their political, social, or religious expression. People were physically attacked or killed in retaliation for their online activities in a record high of at least 43 countries. Some of the most serious abuses took place in the context of armed conflicts. Internet shutdowns amid such fighting plunged civilians into information vacuums, prevented journalists from reporting on the violence, and hampered the delivery of lifesaving aid.

Freedom on the Netis an annual study of human rights in the digital sphere. The project now assesses internet freedom in 72 countries, accounting for 87 percent of the world's internet users. This report, the 14th in its series, covered developments between June 2023 and May 2024. Chile and the Netherlands were assessed for the first time this year and serve as global models for internet freedom, with Chile's score (86) placing it third in a tie with Canada, and the Netherlands earning the sixth-highest score (83). More than 95 analysts and advisers contributed to this year's edition, using a standard methodology to determine each country's internet freedom score on a 100-point scale, with 21 separate indicators pertaining to obstacles to access, limits on content, and violations of user rights.

The nine countries studied as part of this region are: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.