What Countries Censor the Internet?

January 2nd, 2008 by bill.hutchison · No Comments

With news that Australia will now be censoring the Internet I had a look at what countries currently censor the Internet.

Here’s the current list of countries that censor the Internet:

Countries with Heavy Internet Censorship

Cuba
Iran
Maldives
Myanmar
North Korea
Peoples Republic of China
Syria
Tunisia
Uzbekistan
Vietnam

Countries with Moderate Internet Censorship

South Korea
Saudi Arabia
United Arab Emirates
Yemen

Countries Minimal Internet Censorship

Australia
Brazil
Canada
Denmark
European Union
Fiji
Finland
France
India
Isreal
Italy
Morocco
Norway
Pakistan
Russia
Singapore
Sweden
Thailand
Turkey
United Kingdom
United States of America

It surprised me how many countries were on the list of countries that censor the Internet. What the countries choose to censor on the Internet vary, but they include:

Child pornography
Political views that counter the government
Limiting access to International News
Prevent news what happening in the country getting out
Drug Use
Gambling
Religious
Illegal Downloads (MP3, warez)
Racism
Hate Propaganda

Things are always changing and Australia has yet to implement their new Internet censorship regime.

When my son gets old enough to go on-line without direct, over the shoulder supervision I will most likely be implementing my own Internet content filtering software. My preference is to do it myself though, not let the government to it for me.

Source: Wikipedia - Internet Censorship

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