Media watchdog names India among 'Enemies of Internet' countries for curbing freedom of expression

Beijing, Mar 13 (ANI): A global media watchdog group has released its "Enemies of the Internet" list for 2012, citing countries like India and China that put a restriction on the freedom of expression on the Internet.

In the report, Reporters Without Borders said that the countries like Australia, France, India, Egypt and South Korea had censored certain content and punished users for illegal downloads.

It also said the Arab Spring was changing the face of Internet freedom, noting countries like Bahrain that have successfully caused an information blackout with "an impressive arsenal of repressive measures" in order to curtail protest.

The report said the Arab Spring also has led to the opening up of some governments, like Libya, The Voice of America reports.

The report also says cyberattacks in the form of "distributed denials of service" are widespread - including in Russia, where it says a series of such attacks on the eve of the December parliamentary elections took place with the aim of stifling political discussion.

In Belarus, the report says web users trying to connect to a social networking site were redirected to sites containing malicious software.

Reporters Without Borders says Pakistan is seeking to create a national Internet filtering system, which could land it on the "enemies" list next year. (ANI)