Pakistan ranked among worst nations for internet freedom, social media & reporting

As per a recent survey done by a research company, Pakistan has been ranked one of the worst countries in the world for internet freedom due to the restrictions on social media and political reporting. The survey which was done by Tech Research company Comparitech scored as many as 181 countries along five main criteria; censorships on torrents, pornography, news media, social media, and VPNs. Pakistan was put on par with Belarus, Turkey, Oman, United Arab Emirates and Eritrea after scoring 7 out of 10 on the censorship scale with 10 being the worst and 1 being the best. The above countries also scored poorly on the chart with respect to Internet censorship especially the censorship of political media. Countries like North Korea scored a 10 while China scored a 9, and Russia, Turkmenistan and Iran scored an 8.

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Pak among 10 worst for digital media freedom

Last year Pakistan was listed among the worst 10 countries in the world for internet and digital media freedom, according to a report by an internet watchdog. The Freedom House, an international internet rights group, on Tuesday, released its 'Freedom on the Net' (FoTN) report for the year 2019, titled 'The Crisis of Social Media'.

The watchdog in its report placed Pakistan at 26, out of 100 (100 being the worst). Globally, Pakistan is among the worst 10 countries in terms of internet and digital media freedom. In terms of regional ranking, Pakistan emerged as the third-worst country after Vietnam and China, the report said.

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Besides the decline in internet freedom, the report found election manipulation in Pakistan through informational tactics such as the coordinated use of hyper-partisan commentators, bots, or news sites to disseminate false or misleading content as well as technical tactics, including intentional restrictions on connectivity and blocking of websites, the report said.

(With Agency Inputs )

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