Which countries worldwide are the leaders in internet censorship for their citizens?

Looking at the filtering and censorship of political, social, conflict/security and internet tools, the OpenNet Initiative determined that the people of Iran, China, and Burma (Myanmar) have very little open access to internet websites. The governments in those countries filter out websites on all 4 criteria measured.

Tunisia and Saudi Arabia are not far behind Iran, China and Burma. No data was available on Cuba and North Korea, whose governments are also well known for restricting what can be viewed on the internet.

The OpenNet Initiative is partnership of the Citizen Lab at the Munk Centre for International Studies, University of Toronto, Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School, the Advanced Network Research Group at the Cambridge Security Programme, University of Cambridge, and the Oxford Internet Institute, Oxford University. The organization’s mission is to investigate, expose and analyze Internet filtering and surveillance practices in a credible and non-partisan fashion.

Another organization that studies press freedom worldwide, Reporters Without Borders, has come up with their list of the 15 countries that most restrict what its citizens can view on the internet.

That list includes Cuba, North Korea, Belarus, Burma (Myanmar), Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Zimbabwe.

Additional detailed information on internet freedoms and censorship issues can be found on the websites of the OpenNet Initiative and Reporters Without Borders.