Most people consider access to the internet to be a right, not a privilege. In fact, Canada has declared high-speed broadband internet access a “basic telecommunications service” that every citizen should be able to access. However, for many across the world, internet censorship means they are unable to fully communicate with the global community.

Some governments are expanding internet censorship and surveillance as overall online freedom declined for the fifth consecutive year; according to a report from a group that tracks democracy and human rights. It’s also reported that nearly half of 65 countries examined saw online freedom weaken since June 2014.

One of the steepest declines occurred in France, which passed a law many likened to the US Patriot Act. Ukraine—mired in a territorial conflict with Russia—and Libya also experienced sharp drops. China, however, has the most severe restrictions on internet censorship, followed by Syria and Iran. Sri Lanka and Zambia, both of which recently underwent changes in government leadership, were credited with making the biggest improvements in overall online freedom.

To help put global internet censorship into perspective, webmaster tool WhoIsHostingThis.com has created the following infographic. It details the countries that restrict or block the World Wide Web due to government internet censorship. Take a look at it below and find out where you won’t be able to login to Facebook or Twitter:

Internet Censorship World Map

Bans and censorship include:

• Torrents
• Pornography
• Political Media
• Social Media

Now that you’ve learned about how and where the Internet is restricted, discover some famous Internet firsts.

Source: http://www.whoishostingthis.com/blog/2014/02/20/internet-censorship/