FREEDOM ON THE NET 2024 The Struggle for Trust Online Palestinian journalists in the Gaza Strip attempt to connect to the internet. Armed conflicts around the world were made even more dangerous by restrictions on connectivity. (Photo credit: Said Khatib/AFP/Getty Images) during armed conflicts, drove several score declines during the coverage period. In a record 43 countries, people were physically attacked or killed in reprisal for their online activities. In Iraq, where journalists, activists, and bloggers face routine violence, kidnappings, and even assassinations in retaliation for online speech, a prominent civil society activist was murdered in October 2023 by an unknown assailant after his Facebook posts encouraged Iraqis to engage in protests. A Belarusian online journalist reported being tortured by authorities in December due to his connection to one of the hundreds of independent news outlets that the government deems “extremist.” Armed conflicts were made even more dangerous by a lack of access to information and essential services. Internet shutdowns during fighting in Sudan, Ethiopia, Myanmar, the Gaza Strip, and Nagorno-Karabakh plunged people into information vacuums, prevented journalists from sharing reports about human rights abuses, and hampered the provision of desperately needed humanitarian aid. Amid the civil war in Sudan between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the regular Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), the RSF captured internet service providers’ data centers in Khartoum and cut off internet access across the country in February. The shutdown disrupted humanitarian groups’ ability to deliver food, medicine, and medical equipment. 4 @freedomonthenet Forces vying for control during wartime also retaliated directly against people who reported on or discussed the conflicts online. Both the RSF and the SAF in Sudan tortured journalists and other civilians in response to perceived About this report: This is the 14th edition of Freedom on the Net, an annual study of human rights online. The project assesses internet freedom in 72 countries, accounting for 87 percent of the world’s internet users. FOTN 2024 assessed Chile and the Netherlands for the first time. Both serve as global models for internet freedom, with Chile ranking third—tied with Canada—and the Netherlands ranking sixth. This report covers developments between June 2023 and May 2024. More than 95 analysts and advisers contributed to this year’s edition, using a standard methodology to determine each country’s internet freedom score on a 100-point scale, with 21 separate indicators pertaining to obstacles to access, limits on content, and violations of user rights. The FOTN website features in-depth reports and data on each country’s conditions. #FreedomOnTheNet