FREEDOM ON THE NET 2021 The Global Drive to Control Big Tech 4. Does the government place restrictions on anonymous communication or encryption? (0–4 points) • Are website owners, bloggers, or users in general required to register with the government? • Does the government require that individuals use their real names or register with the authorities when posting comments or purchasing electronic devices, such as mobile phones? • Are users prohibited from using encryption services to protect their communications? • Are there laws requiring that users or providers of encryption services turn over decryption keys to the government? 5. Does state surveillance of internet activities infringe on users’ right to privacy? (0–6 points) • Does the constitution, specific laws, or binding legal decisions protect against government intrusion into private lives? • Do state authorities engage in the blanket collection of communications metadata and/or content transmitted within the country? • Are there legal guidelines and independent oversight on the collection, retention, and inspection of surveillance data by state security agencies, and if so, do those guidelines adhere to international human rights standards regarding transparency, necessity, and proportionality? • Do state authorities monitor publicly available information posted online (including on websites, blogs, social media, and other digital platforms), particularly for the purpose of deterring independent journalism or political, social, cultural, religious, and artistic expression? • Do authorities have the technical capacity to regularly monitor or intercept the content of private communications, such as email and other private messages, including through spyware and extraction technology? • Do local authorities such as police departments surveil residents (including through “stingray” technology), and if so, are such practices subject to rigorous guidelines and judicial oversight? • Do state actors use artificial intelligence and other advanced technology for the purposes of online surveillance without appropriate oversight? • Do government surveillance measures target or disproportionately affect dissidents, human rights defenders, journalists, or certain ethnic, religious, gender, LGBT+, migrant, and other relevant groups? 6. Does monitoring and collection of user data by service providers and other technology companies infringe on users’ right to privacy? (0–6 points) • Do specific laws or binding legal decisions enshrine the rights of users over personal data generated, collected, or processed by public or private entities? • Can the government obtain user information from companies (e.g., service providers, providers of public access, internet cafés, social media platforms, email providers, device manufacturers) without a legal process? • Are these companies required to collect and retain data about their users? • Are these companies required to store users’ data on servers located in the country, particularly data related to online activities and expression that are protected under international human rights standards (i.e., are there “data localization” requirements)? • Do these companies monitor users and supply information about their digital activities to the government or other powerful actors (either through technical interception, data sharing, or other means)? • Does the state attempt to impose similar requirements on these companies through less formal methods, such as codes of conduct, threats of censorship, or other economic or political consequences? • Are government requests for user data from these companies transparent, and do companies have a realistic avenue for appeal, for example via independent courts? 7. Are individuals subject to extralegal intimidation or physical violence by state authorities or any other actor in relation to their online activities? (0–5 points) • Are individuals subject to physical violence—such as murder, assault, torture, sexual violence, or enforced disappearance—in relation to their online activities, including membership in certain online communities? • Are individuals subject to other intimidation and harassment—such as verbal threats, travel restrictions, nonconsensual sharing of intimate images, doxing, or property destruction or confiscation—in relation to their online activities? • Are individuals subject to online intimidation and harassment specifically because they belong to a certain ethnic, religious, gender, LGBT+, migrant or other relevant group? 34 @freedomonthenet #FreedomOnTheNet