Freedom of the Net Report 2013 Ranks Armenia Among “Free” Countries

NEW YORK — Armenia is rated high in the Freedom of the Net 2013 report released today by the Freedom House.

The report includes Armenia in the list of 17 countries rated as “Free” topped by Iceland, Estonia and Germany. Georgia is another country in the region ranked as “Free.”

As for Armenia’s neighbors, Azerbaijan and Turkey are rated as Partly Free, while Iran is at the very bottom. Russia is also classified as “Partly Free.”

According to the report, the access to internet in Armenia has significantly improved over the past few years, with the internet penetration rate increasing from approximately 6 percent in 2007 to 39 percent in 2012.

“At the same time, however, there have been minimal efforts to improve community access to the internet and digital literacy remains somewhat low, with television remaining the predominant source by which people receive news and information,” the report reads.

Freedom on the Net 2013 is the fourth report in a series of comprehensive studies of internet freedom around the globe and covers developments in 60 countries that occurred between May 2012 and April 2013. The countries were chosen to provide a representative sample with regards to geographical diversity and economic development, as well as varying levels of political and media freedom.

Over 60 researchers, nearly all based in the countries they analyzed, contributed to the project by researching laws and practices relevant to the digital media, testing the accessibility of select websites, and interviewing a wide range of sources, among other research activities.