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China Has World's Least Free Internet

By Dustin Braden | Update Date: Oct 30, 2015 01:18 PM EDT

A new report from an internet freedom advocacy group says that out of 65 countries, China has the least free internet.

The report was titled "Freedom of the Net 2015" and published by Freedom House, according to The New York Times. China came in behind countries like Iran, Cuba and Myanmar, but North Korea, which is so restrictive of its citizens communications it is called "The Hermit Kingdom" was not evaluated.

Freedom House cited Chinese measures like the Great Firewall and its overt censorship in designating China's internet as the least free. The Great Firewall prevents Chinese citizens from using certain websites, like Twitter. It also prevents people from being able to search for certain topics, and manipulates search results.

China also has a veritable army of censors who go through blog posts and social media to delete ideas and speech that may reflect poorly on the government or the Communist Party. People can be arrested and charged for the things they say online as well.

The most recent law limiting Internet expression provided for prison sentences of three to seven years for people who spread "false information" online, according to the Times. It is not uncommon for incorrect information to spread easily online, meaning that people sharing something they heard that later turned out to be untrue could be punished with jail time.

Before this most recent law, people would only be fined or placed in temporary detention for as long as 10 days.

The last place ranking China received this year is two places worse than it did last year. Freedom House said the country's increasing efforts to enforce jail time and other punishments for things said or done online was behind the fall.

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