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Our internet freedoms are being curtailed, but not without a fight. This is the finding of a new study released on Tuesday by Freedom House, which looked at threats to Internet freedom and efforts to fight back in 47 countries worldwide.

In 20 of 47 countries surveyed, internet freedom was found to be on the decline [PDF]. The biggest declines were in Bahrain, where the government has clamped down on the internet in an effort to quell unrest as a result of the Arab Spring; Ethopia, where an increasingly totalitarian regime is suppressing dissent; and Pakistan.

These threats also seem to have become more diverse, the group says. “As authoritarian rulers see that blocked websites and high-profile arrests draw local and international condemnation, they are turning to murkier — but no less dangerous — methods for controlling online conversations,” the study’s director Sanja Kelly said.

Among these threats are restrictive new laws on online speech, politically motivated surveillance, and attacks by law enforcement on bloggers. In 19 of the countries surveyed some type of physical attack on a blogger by government forces was recorded, and in 12 countries new laws or directives were handed down, which in turn greatly increased surveillance.

The Arab Spring has appeared to influence some governments to put tighter controls on internet speech and social media. Moves to curtail these mediums in Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, Uzbekistan, and China appear to be directly related to the events in Egypt and Tunisia.

(It should be noted that Tunisia recorded the greatest increase in internet freedom during the year — however in Egypt it was a little more uncertain as the armed forces that were in control of the country for much of the past year continued some of the previous regime’s tight control of internet communications.)

Ranked among the top five worst was Iran, Cuba, China, Syria, and Uzbekistan.

While we’ve focused on the negative here, there was some positives to talk about. The United States ranked only behind Estonia as being the most free, likely due to efforts to block P2P usage here in the country. Other countries receiving high marks included Germany, Australia, Hungary, Italy, the Philippines, the UK, Argentina, and South Africa.

Another positive development is efforts by citizens to push back against government control. Here in the US, that is evidenced by public outcry and the eventual defeat of both SOPA and PIPA. Freedom House says in 23 of the 47 countries surveyed public pressure resulted in the scrapping of censorship plans, the release of a jailed activist, or the defeat of potentially harmful legislation.

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