Title: Why do some countries censor the internet?
Headings: Why do some countries censor the internet?
Why do some countries censor the internet?
The current technological movement gives the impression that the internet is unrestrained: read on to find out about seven countries enforcing censorship of the internet
Saudi Arabia
Ethiopia
Eritrea
China
North Korea
Closer to home
What can be done about State censorship of the internet?

Content: Saudi Arabia
All internet traffic into the country passes through a router controlled and monitored by the Ministry of the Interior, a department of the Saudi Arabian government responsible for maintaining a list of previously blocked websites. Over half a million websites have been placed on the list since the Law of Printing and Publication was passed by royal decree in 2003, which made posting anything that could be seen as an attempt to stir up public discord punishable by 5 years’ imprisonment. Ethiopia
Even though only a small percentage of the Ethiopian population has access to the internet, what little access the people do have has been closely monitored since the introduction of anti-terror legislation in 2009, which imposed huge restrictions against posting anything online that could be seen as critical of the government. In fact, two citizens have so far been convicted of online speech offences and handed down multi-year sentences. Eritrea
Eritrea has attracted a lot of attention in recent years for its treatment of journalists, after the country’s president imprisoned nearly two dozen without charge in 2014. Access to information throughout the country is also hurt by a prohibition against mobile Wi-Fi, and means Eritreans are only able to access the internet via slow dial-up modems, which could account for the very low access rate of just 1%. China
China is one of the biggest censors of the internet and uses a vast digital barrier nicknamed “The Great Firewall of China”. This wall is used to limit the spread of information within China and can block IP addresses, filter search engine results and even reroute queries for restricted content to pro-China pages. The scope of censorship is so prolific in China that many journalists and tourists are forced to circumvent the firewall using a VPN (virtual private network). North Korea
North Korea is perhaps the most notorious exponent of internet censorship, with just under 30 websites available from inside the country.