Georgia has freedom on the internet, says Freedom House
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Georgia is a country with high internet freedom where citizens enjoy low internet censorship, says a United States (US)-based independent watchdog that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom, and human rights.
The annually released Freedom of the Net Report by Freedom House revealed Georgia had liberal freedom on the internet while global trends showed internet censorship had increased.
The 2015 report studied the level of internet access, usage and relevant legislation in 88 countries.
Georgia gained a score of 24/100, with 0 being the best and 100 being the worst, and the status of ‘free’ regarding freedom on the internet.
Freedom House said internet access in Georgia continued to improve as the Government moved forward with its plans to ensure access to high-speed internet throughout the country by 2017.
It also stressed that the use of information and communications technologies (ICT) by activists for waging effective online campaigns had increased significantly, indicating the "growing impact of internet use for disseminating information and mobilising people for a common cause”.
When it came to obstacles, the survey said while the number of internet and mobile phone subscriptions in Georgia continued to grow, the high price of services, inadequate infrastructure and slow internet speed remained major obstacles for citizens, particularly those in rural areas or with low incomes.
The survey added the Government’s strategy to overcome the digital divide had not yet been outlined.
It also noted: "there were no publicly reported incidents of censorship directly carried out by the Georgian Government”.
Web content is not subject to systematic manipulation by government agencies. On the contrary, online content is becoming quite diverse in the country, and internet users are increasingly using social media tools to organize and disseminate information about matters of public interest,” said Freedom House in its report.
It added there were no cases of charges against online users for libel or other internet activities in 2014-2015. There were also no known instances of detention or prosecution.
See the full report here.
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The number of internet and mobile phone subscriptions in Georgia continues to grow, but high prices for services, inadequate infrastructure, and slow internet speeds remain obstacles, says Freedom House, a US-based independent watchdog that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom, and human rights.
79.3 per cent of Georgian households have internet access, which is a 3.5 per cent increase compared to the same period of last year, says the National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat).
The Georgian National Communications Commission has approved rules and obligations for both internet service provider companies and the owners of websites to protect children from harmful content on the internet.