Internet freedom poll puts Kenya at top 19
A survey dubbed Freedom On The Net says Kenya is among 19 countries enjoying absolute Internet freedom.
The survey, sanctioned by Reporters Without Borders, looked into Internet use in 65 countries.
It says Kenyans enjoy unrivaled free access to the Internet on phones, laptops, desktops and other gadgets.
Use of the Internet in Kenya is growing at a rapid rate, it says, the third highest in Africa after South Africa and Nigeria.
FREE STATES
But its Press Freedom Score improved by only 1.37 per cent to stand at 32.07, compared with the world’s ‘free’ states of Finland, Norway and Denmark, respectively.
Recent crackdown on bloggers seems to have adversely affected Kenya’s ranking as it dropped ten places to stand at 100 mainly owing to recently enacted Security Laws that threaten to stifle media freedom.
The survey notes that President Mwai Kibaki’s regime seems to have enjoyed unrivaled press freedom with extremely fewer interferences.
Somalia, Syria, Pakistan, India and Phillipines are named the most dangerous places for journalists to work while China’s obsession on persistent crackdowns giving it a mention as a surveillance-savvy nation.