Global freedom in Decline report says

[revelarts]

Freedom in decline worldwide: US report


Global freedom declined for a fifth straight year in 2010 as authoritarian regimes dug in worldwide and crime and unrest plagued democracies like Mexico, a US watchdog said Thursday.

In "Freedom in the World 2011" the Washington-based Freedom House said it had documented the longest continuous period of decline since it began compiling the annual index nearly 40 years ago.

"A total of 25 countries showed significant declines in 2010, more than double the 11 countries exhibiting noteworthy gains," the group said.

"Authoritarian regimes like those in China, Egypt, Iran, Russia, and Venezuela continued to step up repressive measures with little significant resistance from the democratic world," it said.

The recent decline "threatens gains dating to the post-Cold War era in Africa, Latin America, Asia and the former Soviet bloc."

The report classifies countries as free, partly free or not free based on individuals' ability to exercise political and civil rights, taking into account political systems and other factors like war and crime.

Mexico, which along with Ukraine, Djibouti and Ethiopia saw its status decline, moved from free to partly free "as a result of the government's inability to stem the tide of violence by drug-trafficking groups," it said.

More than 30,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence in Mexico since 2006, when the newly-elected President Felipe Calderon launched a massive crackdown on cartels.

Ukraine's demotion, also from free to partly free, owed to "deteriorating levels of press freedom, instances of election fraud and growing politicization of the judiciary," the Freedom House report said.

The Middle East and North Africa continued to lead the world in lack of freedom following a "multi-year decline from an already-low democratic baseline," the group said.

...

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.b7ab9f89dccc945f6545ca445a6fac5 a.4a1&show_article=1

[Psychoblues]

So,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,what do YOU think about that, revy?


Psychoblues

[revelarts]

I think it stinks.
I can see it happening here epsially since 9/11 Bush, Obama, the economic mess and fear mongering politicians of all strips keep nudging us toward less freedom and more faux safety and "care" in this country. Throw in international crime and it's gov't and corporate connections and well.... don't get me started Psych.
Obviously this report was before Tunisia and Egypt uprisings .
Which, when I put on my most optimistic glasses looks great, so far.
may God bless us everyone.

[Psychoblues]

The Breitbart article was published/written on January 13, 2011, revy. Although I always regard anything from breitbart as not to be trusted I think this article is at least approaching and attracting my interest.

Thanks for sharing it, revy!

Psychoblues

[Noir]

I can't see how in the age of social networking freedoms are on the decline,

You need only look at china and twitter to see what an effect these networks have.

[Thunderknuckles]

I can't see how in the age of social networking freedoms are on the decline,

You need only look at china and twitter to see what an effect these networks have.
China shut down any internet searches regarding Egypt when the shit hit the fan.

[texastom]

I can't see how in the age of social networking freedoms are on the decline,

You need only look at china and twitter to see what an effect these networks have.Social media gives us the illusion of freedom. Sure, we can post crap online for the world to see, but that's not freedom. Freedom is doing what you want, going where you want and having the ability to assemble peacefully. They'll let us sit on our butts in our homes and talk crap all day long, but once we hit the streets, they'll quickly remind us how much freedom we've GIVEN up.

[revelarts]

The Breitbart article was published/written on January 13, 2011, revy. Although I always regard anything from breitbart as not to be trusted I think this article is at least approaching and attracting my interest.

Thanks for sharing it, revy!

Psychoblues

Yes the report was released public on Jan 13 but the info was compiled a bit before that I think.
original source.

http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=1
http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=15

[Noir]

China shut down any internet searches regarding Egypt when the shit hit the fan.

Yes they can still limit external informational freedom, but they can no longer limit internal information freedom.

I fact the very same is happening in Egypt, the Internet was more or less shut down, so services like twitter became 'voice-to-tweet' services. Meaning rhe only way any state power can now stamp on the right of peoe to express themselves is if they shut down all coms providers like phones service providers, which would only hurt there ability to communicate aswell.

[Noir]

Social media gives us the illusion of freedom. Sure, we can post crap online for the world to see, but that's not freedom. Freedom is doing what you want, going where you want and having the ability to assemble peacefully. They'll let us sit on our butts in our homes and talk crap all day long, but once we hit the streets, they'll quickly remind us how much freedom we've GIVEN up.

I saw a clip on the news of a boy standing on his fathers shoulders not too long ago, shouting that the Egyptian pres. Should stand down. The journalist said over the image 'if the boy had shouted this a few days ago, his father would of hurried to stop him for fear of the police taking him away. However, today he shouts it as loud as be can, on his fathers shoulders.'
Freedom much?

[fj1200]

Freedom much?

The question is will he be doing that in a month. If not, no change; if so, they're bucking the trend and good for them. Unless the illusion of freedom that they have results in more economic freedom then it's for naught.

[revelarts]

I saw a clip on the news of a boy standing on his fathers shoulders not too long ago, shouting that the Egyptian pres. Should stand down. The journalist said over the image 'if the boy had shouted this a few days ago, his father would of hurried to stop him for fear of the police taking him away. However, today he shouts it as loud as be can, on his fathers shoulders.'
Freedom much?

Seems there's a lot of things that went into that including social media.

But China's far from free, you can't even have more than one child or gather in groups of more than 5 at a time in public. The internet and education is so controlled that in China if you do a search for Tiananmen square you won't find ANY pics or mention of the protest. I saw a report where A journalist gave a picture of the Tank man to about 20 very well educated Chinese University students and only 1 had any idea what it was and he began to whisper to another about the pic but even he said he wasn't exactly sure. The internet is great if it's free but if it's controlled it's just another tool of state.
The internet is, like most tech, a 2 edged sword. Seems at this point it's cutting freedoms way in most countries though.

[Noir]

Seems there's a lot of things that went into that including social media.

But China's far from free, you can't even have more than one child or gather in groups of more than 5 at a time in public. The internet and education is so controlled that in China if you do a search for Tiananmen square you won't find ANY pics or mention of the protest. I saw a report where A journalist gave a picture of the Tank man to about 20 very well educated Chinese University students and only 1 had any idea what it was and he began to whisper to another about the pic but even he said he wasn't exactly sure. The internet is great if it's free but if it's controlled it's just another tool of state.
The internet is, like most tech, a 2 edged sword. Seems at this point it's cutting freedoms way in most countries though.

Meh, well, in the end this will boil down to anecdotes, but I'm on Asian Manga and amine forums, and they are so cut of from the rest of the world as your post would lead soemome to think.
I'm not saying China is free, but I'm saying it's freer than it was a few years ago.

[revelarts]

China stamps out attempt at Mideast-style protests


BEIJING—Jittery Chinese authorities staged a show of force to squelch a mysterious online call for a "Jasmine Revolution," with hundreds of onlookers but only a handful of people actively joining protests inspired by pro-democracy demonstrations sweeping the Middle East.

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Authorities detained activists Sunday, increased the number of police on the streets, disconnected some cell phone text messaging services and censored Internet postings about the call to stage protests in Beijing, Shanghai and 11 other major cities.

Police took at least three people away in Beijing, one of whom tried to place white jasmine flowers on a planter while hundreds of people milled about the protest gathering spot, outside a McDonald's on the capital's busiest shopping street. In Shanghai, police led away three people near the planned protest spot after they scuffled in an apparent bid to grab the attention of passers-by.

Many activists said they didn't know who was behind the campaign and weren't sure what to make of the call to protest, which first circulated Saturday on the U.S.-based Chinese-language news website Boxun.com.

The unsigned notice called for a "Jasmine Revolution" -- the name given to the Tunisian protest movement -- and urged people "to take responsibility for the future." Participants were urged to shout, "We want food, we want work, we want housing, we want fairness" -- a slogan that highlights common complaints among Chinese.

China's authoritarian government is ever alert for domestic discontent and has appeared unnerved by protests in Egypt, Tunisia, Bahrain, Yemen, Algeria and Libya. It has limited media reports about them, stressing the instability caused by the protests, and restricted Internet searches to keep Chinese uninformed about Middle Easterners' grievances against their autocratic rulers.

Though there are many similarities between the complaints voiced by Middle East citizens and the everyday troubles of Chinese, Beijing's tight grip on the country's media, Internet and other communication forums poses difficulties for anyone trying to organize mass demonstrations.

Police stepped up their presence near major public squares and canceled holidays for officers across 20 cities in response to the protest appeal, the Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy reported.

Extensive Internet filtering and monitoring meant that most Chinese were unlikely to know about the call to protest Sunday. Boxun.com is blocked, as are Twitter and Facebook, which were instrumental in Egypt's protest movement. Tech-savvy Chinese can circumvent controls, but few of the country's Internet users seek out politically subversive content.

Anti-government gatherings in China are routinely stamped out by its pervasive security forces, which are well-funded and well-equipped. A pro-democracy movement in 1989 that directly challenged the Communist government was crushed by the military and hundreds, perhaps thousands, were killed.

On Saturday, President Hu Jintao ordered national and provincial officials to "solve prominent problems which might harm the harmony and stability of the society."....

http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2011/02/21/china_stamps_out_attempt_at_mideast_style_protests/?rss_id=Boston.com+%2F+Boston+Globe+--+World+News