1 May 2001
GLOBAL PRESS FREEDOM IMPROVED IN 2000, INTERNET FREER THAN TRADITIONAL MEDIA
Press freedom registered overall gains throughout the world in 2000, says Freedom House in its annual Survey of Press Freedom. The organisation points to bright spots such as Yugoslavia and Peru, where independent journalists played important roles in the fall from power of Slobodan Milosevic and Alberto Fujimori, respectively. Both countries moved from "not free" to "partly free" in Freedom House's ratings. Out of 187 countries surveyed, 72 (38.5 per cent, representing 21 per cent of the world's population) are considered "free", with no significant restrictions on the news media. 53 countries (28.3 per cent, or 43 per cent of the global population) are rated "partly free" and are characterised by some media restrictions, while 62 countries (33.2 per cent, or 36% of the world's population) are rated "not free," characterised by state control or other obstacles to a free press.
Despite the positive trends, the survey, released on 30 April, finds that freedom of expression was dealt a severe blow in a number of large and geopolitically important countries. Freedom House says the most alarming developments are in Russia, which has recently seen the forced takeover of the independent NTV television network, "Sevodnya" newspaper, and Itogi magazine by the state-dominated gas monopoly Gazprom. The survey also expresses concern about China, which "continues to harass and intimidate journalists, jail 'cyber dissidents,' and fill the country's airwaves with defamatory propaganda, directed at groups such as Falun Gong."
This year's Survey includes the first-ever comparative survey on Internet freedom, which finds that Internet freedom exceeds the levels of press freedom in most countries. The Internet survey examines 131 countries, with 59 (46 per cent) rated "least restrictive," 53 states (40 per cent) considered "moderately restrictive," and 19 (14 per cent) rated "most restrictive." The survey finds a strong correlation between a free press and "least restrictive" control of the Internet. However, it notes that many repressive governments -- including Iran, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Zimbabwe -- place fewer restrictions on Internet access than they do on print and broadcast media. Furthermore, some democracies where print and broadcast media are freest, such as Australia, UK, and the US, restrict freedom on the Internet, ostensibly to maintain state secrets or bar pornography. The survey also notes that some states, such as China and some Middle Eastern nations, face a dilemma of whether to allow greater Internet use for commerce, or to restrict its use to protect religious, cultural, or political values.
The entire Survey of Press Freedom, containing country-by-country reports, essays on the state of Internet Freedom and press freedoms generally, and an interactive press freedom map, is available at www.freedomhouse.org/pfs2001/pfs2001.pdf.
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