FREEDOM ON THE NET 2023 The Repressive Power of Artificial Intelligence Tried and True: Conventional Censorship Methods Proliferate TRIED AND TRUE: CONVENTIONAL CENSORSHIP METHODS PROLIFERATE Traditional forms of online censorship surged during the coverage period, utilized by 16 BLOCKS ON SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS 22 BLOCKS ON WEBSITES 41 BLOCKS ON VPNS 19 FORCED REMOVAL OF CONTENT 45 Bahra in Ban glad esh B el aru s Bra zil Ca mb od Ch ia i Co na lo m bi a INTERNET CONNECTIVITY RESTRICTIONS Azerbaija Armenia n Traditional forms of online censorship surged duringfrom the coverage utilized by governments from across governments acrossperiod, the democratic spectrum. the democratic spectrum. ba Cu t yp Eg ia ton s E ia iop Et h nce Fra bia Gam Th e ny Germa Ghana A record-high of 41 national governments blocked websites that hosted political, social, and religious content. Hungary India Vietnam Indones Iran ia Iraq Philippines Pakistan Russia Th Ital y J or da n Ka za k Ke hs ny tan a Ky rg yz st an n no ba Le ya Lib sia lay Ma o xic Me co roc Mo r nma Mya ag u a Nicar Nigeria ai la nd Su d Sr an iL an So ka uth Ko rea Sin gap ore Saud i Ara bia Rwan da Venezuela istan Uzbek om ingd ed K t i s n U ate mir E b ine Ara kra ted i U n U da an y Ug e rk a Tu is i n Tu This infographic is from the Freedom on the Net 2023 Of the 70 countries covered by Freedom on the Net, governments in a record-high 41 blocked websites that hosted political, social, and religious speech. Roskomnadzor, Russia’s media and telecommunications regulator, requires internet service providers to install a unique, governmentproduced deep packet inspection (DPI) system that enables the blocking of websites across the country. The Kremlin has used this system to block global social media platforms, Ukrainian news sites, and domestic sites that carry any hint 16 @freedomonthenet of dissent regarding its invasion of Ukraine. The coverage period also featured increased Russian blocking of websites that host LGBT+ content, part of a broader assault on that community in the country. The Belarusian government, which has aided Moscow’s military aggression, has blocked more than 9,000 websites, including a slew of independent news sites and associated mirror sites that are maintained by Belarusian journalists working in exile. #FreedomOnTheNet