Armenia has again improved its standing in a fresh report assessing the state of internet freedoms and personal liberties in 65 countries, prepared by Freedom House, a Washington-based think tank.
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Ranked Free in the 2019 edition of the survey, Armenia scored 76 out of 100 in the global internet freedom ranking ” the higher the number, the better a country ranks ” to land eighth overall.
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According to the Freedom on the Net report, positive changes unleashed in Armenia by the 2018 Velvet Revolution continued in 2019 as well, with “reformist prime minister Nikol Pashinyan presiding over a reduction in restrictions on content and violations of users’ rights.” In particular, the report says, “violence against online journalists declined, and the digital news media enjoyed greater freedom from economic and political pressures.
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“Developments in Armenia in 2018 demonstrated once again that digital technology can help generate dramatic democratic change. Citizens effectively used social media.” Armenia rose from Partly Free to Free in 2018. The Freedom House report had concluded in 2018 that “online journalists were physically harassed and assaulted for live streaming protests in and around Yerevan during the Velvet Revolution.”
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While neighboring Georgia (with a score of 75) is also ranked Free, Azerbaijan has dropped to join Turkey, Iran and Russia in the Not Free domain.
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H/T PanArmenian
Armenia Lands 8th Among Countries With The Most Internet Freedom.
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