Nigeria is one of the countries with the most internet freedom in the world, a new study by Proxyrack, a data collection company, has revealed.
Internet users in a record number of countries have faced arrest and physical attacks for their posts over the past year, the report says, painting a grim picture of digital freedoms in 2022.
Published on Friday, the report ranked Nigeria 10th on the index of countries with the most internet freedom globally.
Compiled by the Proxyrack researchers, the survey gives countries a score out of 100 for the level of internet freedom enjoyed by citizens, including the extent to which they face restrictions on the content they can access.
Other factors considered were the extent of banning and restrictions of torrents, pornography, political media, social media, VPNs, and messaging and VoIp apps.
“The internet has become a tool relied on by many to learn, connect and entertain,” read the preface of the report. “However, not all nations believe this amount of data should be totally accessible to the public.”
The researchers said internet freedom is fast becoming an increasingly important issue, as governments around the world seek to limit their citizen’s digital rights, restrict access to or censor information, or even prevent reliable internet access altogether.
“Internet freedom is also on the decline globally, with some activists taking advantage of residential proxies and VPNs to speak out against corrupt regimes and create a fairer society,” the report said.
“We’ve looked into the proportion of internet users in each country, the censorship laws that citizens are subjected to, and the digital freedoms afforded to the citizens of each country to find out.”
The Nigerian government banned Twitter last year citing the persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence, a move that activists described as stifling the voices of the citizens and undermining their rights to freedom of expression.
The UK takes the top spot as the country with the most internet freedom, scoring the lowest, 0 out of 10. The country has the highest proportion of people online and tops the list for its internet freedom score. The UK also does not restrict social media sites, Proxyrack said.
Japan is in second place. The Asian country has one of the highest proportions of internet users and ranks very low for internet censorship. It also gets 77 out of 100 on the internet freedom scores.
Germany came third, ranking highly thanks to its internet freedom score of 77 and sharing the second place for this factor. Germany also doesn’t restrict user access and the country has one of the lowest censorship scores, according to the report.
Next is the United States, followed by France; Italy; Brazil; the Philippines; Mexico, and Nigeria.
At the other end of the spectrum, China was named the world’s worst abuser of internet freedom, handing out heavy prison sentences for online dissent.
The country has the most internet restrictions, the report said, adding, “China has banned its citizens from western social media sites, giving it one of the lowest scores for the factor.”
“The country also heavily restricts its political media on the internet, giving the highest (11 out of 11) internet censorship score.”
Iran is behind China as the nation has banned western social media sites and heavily restricted citizen access to political media, Proxyrack said. The country also has a very low net freedom scoring 8.16 out of 10.
Egypt is the third-worst nation for internet restriction. The North African nation has a relatively low proportion of citizens who use the internet. It also ranks in the bottom five for internet freedoms, as the Egyptian government has been known to imprison journalists and human rights campaigners for their actions online.
Bangladesh is the next on the index, followed by Vietnam; Thailand; India; Turkey; Russia; and Indonesia
