'2024 Internet Freedom Report' Released
South Korea Ranks 21st... Drops Two Places from Last Year
China and Myanmar Tie for Last Place
South Korea ranked 21st in the "Internet Freedom" survey, which evaluates the freedom of internet and digital media across countries worldwide.
According to the "2024 Internet Freedom" report released on the 16th (local time) by the U.S.-based international human rights organization Freedom House, South Korea scored 66 out of 100 points, classifying it as a "Partly free" country. In last year's evaluation, South Korea ranked 19th out of 72 surveyed countries, but this year it dropped two places to 21st.
In this survey, South Korea has been classified as a "Partly free" country for several years among the categories of "Free," "Partly free," and "Not free." Freedom House pointed out in the report that "this year, ahead of the general election, the government and the ruling party in South Korea attacked independent media critical of the administration and placed them on a blacklist." It added, "President Yoon Suk-yeol and the People Power Party justified their campaign against independent media ahead of the April general election by using the logic of 'fake news.' Authorities conducted raids on independent media outlets that had been reporting critically on the government and placed them on a blacklist."
Furthermore, the report mentioned the recent indefinite suspension of operations of the nonprofit fact-checking platform "Seoul National University Institute for Journalism and Communication Studies Fact Check Center" (SNU Fact Check Center), which had been operating for over seven years, amid accusations of bias from the ruling party. Freedom House stated, "Members of the People Power Party launched a campaign accusing South Korea's major fact-checking platform, 'SNU Fact Check,' of bias. Due to these accusations, it is reported that the main sponsor of SNU Fact Check withdrew its funding. The center suspended its activities indefinitely as of August due to financial difficulties."
The country ranked highest in internet freedom in this survey was Iceland. Iceland scored 94 points, securing first place again this year following last year. In contrast, China scored 9 points, remaining last for the ninth consecutive year, and Myanmar, where the military regime is intensifying internet censorship, also recorded the same score, tying for last place. Additionally, among the 72 countries surveyed, 27 showed a decline in internet freedom, while only 18 countries showed improvement. It was confirmed that global internet freedom has declined for 14 consecutive years up to this year.
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