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 Tim Berners-Lee, who launched the Web in 1990, made the remarks as
he released his World Wide Web Foundation's annual report tracking
the Web's impact and global censorship. The index ranked Sweden
first in Web access, openness and freedom, followed by Norway, the
U.K. and the United States.
"One of the most encouraging findings of this year's Web Index is
how the Web and social media are increasingly spurring people to
organize, take action and try to expose wrongdoing in every region
of the world," said Berners-Lee, 58.
"But some governments are threatened by this, and a growing tide of
surveillance and censorship now threatens the future of democracy,"
he said, adding that steps need to be taken to protect privacy
rights and ensure users can continue to gather and speak out freely
online.
The warning from Berners-Lees is the latest in a global debate about
surveillance and privacy, sparked by the release of classified
documents leaked by former National Security Agency analyst Edward
Snowden that showed the extent of government spying on people's
online lives. While the leaks focused on the work of the NSA,
scrutiny has since spread to other Western intelligence agencies.
Friday's report said online spying and blocking are on the rise
around the world, and politically sensitive Web content is blocked
in almost one in three countries. Despite their high overall
rankings, the U.S. and Britain both received mediocre scores for
safeguarding users' privacy.
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Mexico was the highest ranking emerging economy at 30th. Russia came
in 41st, China was at 57th, and Mali, Ethiopia and Yemen were at the
bottom of the list. Rich countries did not necessarily do better
than poorer ones — Estonia, for example, ranked higher than
Switzerland, while Qatar and Saudi Arabia performed far worse than
their income ranking would suggest.
Many of the 81 countries surveyed have failed to use the Web to
properly disseminate basic information on health and education, and
the majority of governments hide important data such as information
about land ownership and company registration, the report said.
About 39 percent of the global population was online in 2013 — more
than double from 2005, which recorded 16 percent. In Africa, fewer
than one in five people are using the Internet, with many saying
they cannot afford it.
_____
Online:
http://www.thewebindex.org/
[Associated
Press SYLVIA HUI]
Follow Sylvia Hui at
http://twitter.com/sylviahui.
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