10 Most Censored Countries

"Repressive governments use sophisticated digital censorship and surveillance alongside more traditional methods to silence independent media.

Eritrea is the world's most censored country, according to a list compiled by the Committee to Protect Journalists. The list is based on CPJ's research into the use of tactics ranging from imprisonment and repressive laws to surveillance of journalists and restrictions on internet and social media access.

Under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, everyone has the right to seek and receive news and express opinions. These 10 countries flout the international standard by banning or severely restricting independent media and intimidating journalists into silence with imprisonment, digital and physical surveillance, and other forms of harassment. Self-censorship is pervasive."

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China's Tightening Grasp on Social Media Offers a Potent Tool of Repression for President-for-Life Xi Jinping, PEN America Report Warns
"Offering a detailed analysis of digital rights today and a chilling preview of their future in China, PEN America announced the release of Forbidden Feeds: Government Controls on Social Media in China.

From the leading US free expression organization, the 90+-page original research report demonstrates how the government’s grip on social media constricts free expression in China, and how the scope and severity of censorship has expanded under President Xi Jinping. With an increasing array of technological, legal, and ideological tools at the government’s disposal, Beijing is ever more able and willing to systematically erase expressions of dissent and calls for social change, silencing internet users who dare cross ever-shifting red lines, and shutting off channels of circumvention under the banner of “cyber sovereignty.” The report takes a particular look into how these constraints burden writers and other creative professionals, as the government wields its power to ensure no one becomes so popular and nothing goes so viral on social media as to slip beyond the state’s control."