Internet freedom

Internet freedom is an umbrella term that encompasses digital rights, freedom of information, the right to Internet access, freedom from Internet censorship, and net neutrality.

As a human right
Those who support internet freedom as a human right include the United Nations Human Rights Council, who declared internet freedom a Human Right in 2012. Eric Sterner agrees with the end goals of internet freedom but thinks that focusing on democracy and other freedoms is the best strategy.

Relatively free internets
J. Goldsmith notes the discrepancies in fundamental rights around free speech that exist between Europe and the United States, for example, and how that impacts internet freedom. In addition, the proliferation in certain kinds of speech that spreads false information and weakens trust in the accuracy of content online remains a topic of concern around internet freedom in all countries.

Relatively unfree internets
Some countries work to ban certain sites and or words that limit internet freedom. The People's Republic of China (PRC) has the world's largest number of Internet users and one of the most sophisticated and aggressive Internet censorship and control regimes in the world. In 2020 Freedom House ranked China last of 64 nations in internet freedom.