Q4/2019 - Freedom House

November 2019

Annual Report “Freedom on the Net: The Crisis of Social Media”

Freedom House's annual report on the state of Internet freedom in the world notes a dramatic increase in restrictions and censorship on the Internet. It states that 71 percent of the roughly four billion Internet users live in a country where citizens are imprisoned or persecuted for posting content on the Internet. An increasing number of countries disables access to undesirable content for political or religious reasons, disconnects the Internet or blocks mobile communication networks. In many countries, bloggers have to fear for their lives. The trend of growing digital authoritarianism everywhere in the world, which has already been observed last year, has consolidated in the past year. Social media, once a level playing field for the free exchange of information, ideas and opinions, are tilting dangerously toward illiberalism. In three units – Securing Elections, Preventing Abusive Social Media Surveillance and Protecting Internet Freedom – the report makes a total of 14 recommendations to policymakers, the private sector and civil society on how to maintain and rebuild freedom on the Internet[1]. 

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Q4/2019Freedom House
  1. [1] Freedom on the Net Report 2019: The Crisis of Social Media, November 2019, Recommendations: „1. SECURING ELECTIONS: Governments: 1.1. Improve transparency and oversight of online political advertisements. 1.2. Address the use of bots in social media manipulation. 1.3. Protect elections from cyberattacks with paper ballots and election audits. For the Private Sector; Private Sector: 1.4 Develop rapid response teams to address cybersecurity and disinformation incidents around elections. 1.5 Ensure political advertisements are transparent and adhere to strict content standards. 1.6 Improve information sharing among social media companies and between public and private sectors. Civil Society: Conduct early-warning analysis on election interference tactics likely to occur in a country, and mobilize advocacy campaigns to prevent negative impacts. 2.PREVENTING ABUSIVE SOCIAL MEDIA SURVEILLANCE: Governments: 2.1 Strictly regulate the use of social media surveillance tools and the collection of social media information by government agencies and law enforcement. 2.2. Enact robust data privacy legislation. 2.3 Restrict the export of sophisticated monitoring tools. 2.3 Train technologists and engineers on the human rights implications of the products they are building and on international best practices for preventing their abuse. Civil Society: 2.4 Work with scholars, human rights lawyers, and other stakeholders to investigate the use of social media surveillance tools and their impact on targeted communities, particularly marginalized groups. 3. PROTECTING INTERNET FREEDOM: Governments: 3.1 Ensure that all internet-related laws and practices adhere to international human rights law and standards. 3.2 Preserve broad protections against intermediary liability and focus new regulations on conduct, not content. Private Sector: 3.3. Adhere to the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and conduct human rights impact assessments for new markets, committing to doing no harm. Civil Society: 3.4 Continue to raise awareness about government censorship and surveillance efforts. In: https://www.freedomonthenet.org/sites/default/files/2019-11/11042019_Report_FH_FOTN_2019_final_Public_Download.pdf