Beijing is now emerging as world's worst abuser of internet freedom: Report

Beijing is also emerging as a worst abuser of internet freedom, pushes censorship and surveillance to unprecedented levels.

Sarah Cook, the research director on China at Freedom House recently released a report on their predictions on how China could stifle internet freedoms in 2021, reports Zee News.

  In its Freedom of the Net 2020 report, published by Freedom House on December 15, 2020, states that during the COVID-19 pandemic the Chinese government has taken an extremely aggressive approach to control unfavourable information. China was deemed the world’s worst abuser of internet freedom for the sixth consecutive year by Freedom House.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the persistent pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, China pushed censorship and surveillance to unprecedented levels. The CCP has made the use of low-and high tech tools to not only manage the outbreak but also use it as an excuse to deter internet users from sharing information from unofficial sources, reports Zee News.

Some of the key findings from Freedom House's report were that- China scored an abysmal 10 out of 100 in terms of internet freedom and was termed ‘Not Free’.

The Chinese government increased digital repression during the pandemic. Any online expression that went against the official narrative was met with harsh reprisals from the Chinese Government.

The increasing government controls diminished the online presence of independent civil society and human rights activists, however, nationalist voices gained prominence. Another key finding was the revelation that private Chinese companies helped facilitate government surveillance, reports Zee News.

With these restrictions already in place, Freedom House made its predictions for 2021; these are trends that one must watch out for in the future.