Azerbaijan ranks 51st among 70 countries (Russia is in 65th place) in the report of the Freedom House for 2022 in terms of INternet freedom.
Over the past year, Internet freedom has worsened in 28 countries and improved in 26.
Azerbaijan scored 38 points and remained in the category of countries with “non-free internet”.
The report criticized the new media law adopted in Azerbaijan in February this year for its restrictive provisions. Thus, the law limits foreign media funding and requires media operators to be based in the country.
The report also says that the law further narrowed the already limited environment for online media and forced many Azerbaijani journalists to work abroad.
Kazakhstan with a score of 32, Turkey with a score of 30, Belarus with a score of 28, Uzbekistan with a score of 27 and Iran with a score of 16 also is in the “not free internet” category.
Georgia and Armenia remained in the category of “free countries”. Georgia has 78 points, Armenia has 74 points. Georgia ranks the 7th, and Armenia – the 14th.
Iceland was the freest country in the rankings with 95 points out of 100. Iceland is followed by Estonia, Costa Rica, and Canada.