Since June 2014, the most significant dips in online freedom occurred in Libya, Ukraine and France. China occupies the top spot as the worst abuser of internet freedom, with Google being almost completely blocked in the country and repressive laws governing online behaviour being enforced with greater gusto.
Globally, surveillance has increased and if there’s one thing that governments and terrorist groups have in common, it is their hatred of online whistleblowers and critics. While this has manifested in tragic injustices like the recent death sentence for Saudi-Palestinian poet Ashraf Fayadh, the report mentions some more bizarre examples. For instance, in September this year, China censored images of the cartoon character Winnie-the-Pooh. Pooh Bear had been used to reference President Xi Jinping on a popular Chinese microblogging site.