Global internet freedom has declined for the twelfth successive year, according to a new report from the NGO Freedom House.

The report, titled ‘Countering an Authoritarian Overhaul of the Internet’, revealed the

biggest downgrades were documented in Russia, Myanmar, Sudan, and Libya.

It said that following the Russian military’s illegal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin dramatically intensified its ongoing efforts to suppress domestic dissent and accelerated the closure or exile of the country’s remaining independent media outlets.

“In at least 53 countries, users faced legal repercussions for expressing themselves online, often leading to draconian prison terms,” the report said.

The authors of the report contend that governments are “breaking apart the global internet to create more controllable online spaces”.

“A record number of national governments blocked websites with nonviolent political, social, or religious content, undermining the rights to free expression and access to information,” they said.

“A majority of these blocks targeted sources located outside of the country. New national laws posed an additional threat to the free flow of information by centralizing technical infrastructure and applying flawed regulations to social media platforms and user data.”

The report said China was the world culprit in denying internet freedom.

“Censorship intensified during the 2022 Beijing Olympics and after tennis star Peng Shuai accused a high-ranking Chinese Communist Party (CCP) official of sexual assault,” the report said.

“The government continued to tighten its control over the country’s booming technology sector, including through new rules that require platforms to use their algorithmic systems to promote CCP ideology.”

One the positive side, a record 26 countries experienced internet freedom improvements.

“Despite the overall global decline, civil society organisations in many countries have driven collaborative efforts to improve legislation, develop media resilience, and ensure accountability among technology companies,” the report said.

“Successful collective actions against internet shutdowns offered a model for further progress on other problems like commercial spyware.”

In the US, internet freedom improved marginally for the first time in six years, the report found.

“There were fewer reported cases of targeted surveillance and online harassment during protests compared with the previous year, and the country now ranks ninth globally, tied with Australia and France,” it said.

“The United States still lacks a comprehensive federal privacy law, and policymakers made little progress on the passage of other legislation related to internet freedom.

“Ahead of the November 2022 midterm elections, the online environment was riddled with political disinformation, conspiracy theories, and online harassment aimed at election workers and officials.”

In a macro perspective, the report’s authors say human rights are at stake in the battle to control the web.

“Authoritarian states are vying to propagate their model of digital control around the world. In response, a coalition of democratic governments has increased the promotion of online human rights at multilateral forums, outlining a positive vision for the internet,” they said.

“However, their progress remains hampered by problematic internet freedom practices in their own countries.”

The report identified three main causes of fragmentation, all of which contributed to declining respect for human rights online.

These are: restrictions on the flow of news and information, centralized state control over internet infrastructure, and barriers to cross-border transfers of user data.

The report contends that authoritarian leaders are seeking to contain online dissent by preventing people from accessing global information sources.

But it says a cohort of democracies are pushing back.

“Having previously focused on a narrower set of economic and security interests linked to countering Beijing, the United States has more recently shown promising signs of reengagement in cyber diplomacy with the aim of promoting a positive vision of democracy in the digital age,” the report says.

“The European Union (EU) has also moved forward with innovative and rights-respecting regulatory approaches to address harms that have been exacerbated by the internet.”

But the report says many democracies have yet to significantly improve respect for online rights within their own borders.