Published: Sept. 28, 2012 at 3:13 PM<\/p>\n
WAHINGTON, D.C., Sept. 28 (UPI) -- Internet censorship is increasing as authoritarian regimes attempt to impose more restrictions on online activism, a U.S. watchdog organization reports. <\/p>\n
Free speech group Freedom House said repressive laws, violent attacks on bloggers and government surveillance are among the biggest emerging threats to Internet freedom, CNN reported Friday. <\/p>\n
Freedom house analyzed restriction of access, content censorship and violations of users' civil rights in 47 countries. <\/p>\n
Iran, Cuba and China were the most repressive in terms of restricting Internet usage and freedoms, the group said. <\/p>\n
Authorities in China conduct the most sophisticated censorship efforts, Freedom House said, because major Web portals and social networking sites, even though not state-owned, must obey with strict government censorship rules or risk being shut down. <\/p>\n
Beijing's influence as an \"incubator for sophisticated restrictions\" has not gone unnoticed, the group said, with governments including Belarus, Uzbekistan and Iran following China's model for their own Internet crackdowns. <\/p>\n
\"The findings clearly show that threats to Internet freedom are becoming more diverse,\" Sanja Kelly, a project director at Freedom House, said. <\/p>\n
\"As authoritarian rulers see that blocked websites and high-profile arrests draw local and international condemnation, they are turning to murkier -- but no less dangerous -- methods for controlling online conversations.\" <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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\nGlobal censorship of Internet on the rise<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"