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US Declines in Internet Freedom Rankings (techcrunch.com)

Posted by msmash on from the where-we-stand dept.

If you need a safe haven on the internet, where the pipes are open and the freedoms are plentiful -- you might want to move to Estonia or Iceland. From a report: The latest "internet freedoms" rankings are out, courtesy of Freedom House's annual report into the state of internet freedoms and personal liberties, based on rankings of 65 countries that represent the vast majority of the world's internet users. Although the U.S. remains firmly in the top 10, it dropped a point on the year earlier after a recent rash of changes to internet regulation and a lack of in the realm of surveillance. Last year, the U.S. was 21 in the global internet freedom ranking -- the lower number, the better a country ranks. That was behind Estonia, Iceland, Canada, Germany and Australia. This year the U.S. is at 22 -- thanks to the repeal of net neutrality and the renewal of U.S. spy powers. The report also cited "disinformation and hyperpartisan content" -- or fake news -- as a "pressing concern."

11 of 153 comments (clear)

  1. Freedom means content you don't like by grasshoppa · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Their concerns over "fake news" seems contrary to the notion of "freedom". Freedom means the ability for anyone, anywhere, to do what they will regardless of your opinions.

    Their concerns undermine their credibility, although I do agree that the lack of net neutrality and continued surveillance are concerning.

    --
    Mod me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!
    1. Re:Freedom means content you don't like by ChromeAeonuim · · Score: 4, Insightful

      And since Germany outranks the US here, I wonder how they handled the European 'right' to censorship. Say what you will about Ajit Pai and his corporate cronies, I certainty do, at least here in the US I won't face legal trouble for 'insulting someone's dignity' or 'insulting someone's religious sensibilities' (yeah, blasphemy, of all things) or violating someone's 'right to be forgotten' by continuing to host a factual news article.

    2. Re:Freedom means content you don't like by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

      But unless you limit freedom of speech, you don't have it. It's like with tolerance. You have to be intolerant of intolerance in order to be tolerant.

      You shouldn't have the right to offend others.

    3. Re: Freedom means content you don't like by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You people make me sick. You co-opt words and act as if you have a right to control other peaceful people. You are the crazy nutter. And while there are crazy nutters on the opposite side of the spectrum as well it doesn't change the fact you're a fucking nut job.

      Few people want to hear what you are talking about, but no government has the right to deprive another of speech or a general right to communicate whatever they want. It's up to each individual to listen to or not or access the so-called 'disinformation' or not.

      From my perspective what you are saying is disinformation. You co-opted words to mean something other than what they actually mean.

    4. Re:Freedom means content you don't like by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 5, Insightful

      > You shouldn't have the right to offend others.

      Bullshit.

      That's how you end with idiotic Political Correctness (aka Censorship) which to quote George Carlin "is Fascidm pretending to be manners."

      Only cowards censor.

    5. Re:Freedom means content you don't like by ChromeAeonuim · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Censorship offends me. Therefore, you should either act in a logically consistent manner and silence yourself, or you should admit that what you really want is the ability to force people to not say certain things that you don't like, which is a very different thing altogether.

      Censorship advocacy is either logical inconsistent, or openly unethical. Pick one.

    6. Re: Freedom means content you don't like by forkfail · · Score: 4, Insightful

      ...freedom in the rest of the world includes freedom from disinformation and freedom from propaganda.

      Perhaps if the disinformation and propaganda comes from your own government.

      But defining freedom as only hearing things from other people that you believe to be true?

      That is the exact opposite of freedom.

      --
      Check your premises.
    7. Re: Freedom means content you don't like by mrclevesque · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Freedom “to” vs. Freedom “from” -

      https://www.open.edu/openlearn...

    8. Re:Freedom means content you don't like by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      And if you need to ask, "Well derp, who gets to make up what is ethical?" then you're in luck, because this was also pretty well established by about 300 B.C., and the answer is, "We all do, based upon reason and moral behavior".

      Good morning. Ethics professor here. Let's unpack that statement.

      Moral behavior is ethical. What is ethical? Moral behavior. Remember, from your humanities classes, that ethics and morals are greek and latin words with the same meaning from "about 300 B.C."

      Steiner's rationalization is that freedom is a subset of ethics, which clearly is political science, not an ethical concept. He confused prescription for description. Which is the reason why no professional philosopher takes Steiner's freedoms as anything more than a curiosity. The former is ethics, the latter is best served by science.

      Freedom is an ability. Specifically, and most famously from the humanities courses you seem to feel as an authority, liberty of spontaneity and liberty of indifference. The ability to do as one chooses and the ability to not do as one does not choose. If and only if a person has both, can they be said to have freedom.

      Finally, if one is to take advice on ethics, perhaps do not do so from someone that is unethical in the first place, demeaning and insulting his way as if ethics is about winning arguments rather than cogent ones:

      This has been another edition of, "Why you should have taken a few Humanities classes when you were working on your Associates degree in Computer Science."

      Philosophy has contributed a great deal to Computer Science. Even critical tools such as truth tables and function-argument forms. Computer Science also has contributed a great deal to humanities such as abstractions, large-scale analytic methodologies, and topological breakthroughs. Do not look down on specialists. They contribute just as much as those of us lucky enough to be interdisciplinary.

  2. Re:I'd say more but... by forkfail · · Score: 4, Insightful

    We've handed the Town Square to a few powerful individuals and corporations.

    And the denizens that are allowed to live in said Town Square loves their unilaterally declared regulation and iron fisted control.

    What that those inside the town square should be wondering about is what is going to happen when there are more that have been pushed out of the town square than are allowed into the echo chamber it is becoming.

    --
    Check your premises.
  3. Re:RTFS by jedidiah · · Score: 3, Insightful

    > Facebook bans aren't the risk to your freedom. Losing Net Neutrality OTOH is.

    Your total lack of self-awareness here is hilarious.

    Corporate censorship is as much a threat to your freedom as government surveillance.

    You are quite literally manning the barricades on behalf of Robber Barons.

    --
    A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.