Freedom House: Belarus has no free internet

• 15.11.2016, 12:19

The government of Belarus uses the Law on Mass Media to block news sites.

American non-governmental organization Freedom House has published the report Freedom on the Net 20126.

According to the report, 67 % of internet users live in countries where criticism of the government, military, or ruling family are subject to censorship. Belarus is still in the list of countries with non-free internet, but it has slightly improved its position.

Freedom House reports that internet freedom environment has deteriorated for the last year. Previously, 61% of the world population lived in countries with censorship, but this figure has reached 67% now.

It is reported that the increase in the level of censorship has occurred basically due to the blocking of some communication apps which use encryption when transmitting data – WhatsApp and Telegram. WhatsApp was blocked in 12 countries, Telegram was blocked in 4 countries.

According to Freedom House, 27% of Internet users live in countries where a person can be arrested for posting, reposting and even just "liking" publications.

Belarus has once again got into the ranking of countries with non-free Internet. Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkey, Iran, Syria and other countries make it a company.