We’re no strangers to indexes that let us rate things (like ISPs), but it’s hard to quantify freedom. Well, not for the people at ProtonVPN, makers of one of our favorite VPN services.
In an effort to show exactly which nations of the world offer people the most digital freedom—such as the ability to access anything on the internet without hassle, right down to legal pornography—ProtonVPN used data from Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and Freedom House to generate a number for every country. You can see the country heat map above, but here’s the top 20 (out of 70 countries rated)
Sweden, Portugal, and Switzerland present you with the least amount of hassle in your digital life. In fact, most of the top 10 are European countries, with the exception of Canada at number 7.
The report concludes that the UK and US—countries that like to build their rep on freedoms—didn’t place higher because of their scores when it comes to “user rights”—which “reflects the balance between legal protections and restrictions on free expression, surveillance and privacy, and the legal and extralegal repercussions for online speech and activities (such as imprisonment, extralegal harassment and physical attacks, or cyberattacks).” Though how that user rights score is calculated isn’t exactly clear.
China, Cuba, and Russia took the bottom rungs of the lower ladder of 20 countries.
Many of the countries in that bottom 20 score low for the simple fact that the internet is hard—if not impossible—to access, something ProtonVPN says is an “often overlooked component of digital freedom.” An open, uncensored internet doesn’t mean much if you can’t get to it because of cost or lack of infrastructure. Countries that did well with offering internet with the fewest obstacles include Canada, Iceland, and Estonia.
Unsurprisingly, banning VPNs is also a way to get a lower index in this research; ProtonVPN singles out Belarus, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates in this regard, but they are not alone. Blocking social media also is a no-no; China, Myanmar, and Cuba all have blanket bans on it.
All that said, a majority—60%—of the countries indexed have “full” social media freedom.
For more, read the full report at ProtonVPN.
