DUBLIN, June 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Online censorship is the latest battleground in the fight for freedom of information and access to unrestricted content and knowledge. Simply living in Russia means that your access to political media is restricted, while those just across the border in Finland are only torrent restricted. While some countries such as the UK and USA have legislated for relatively few limitations, others come as more of a surprise such as Japan and its lack of restrictions.

Different elements come together to determine a government's desire to restrict access to freely available information. For example, the blanket ban on all internet access in North Korea is strongly related to a fear of its population learning about life outside of its closely guarded borders. Restrictions in China, Taiwan and Vietnam are also political in nature while others such as Syria, Saudi Arabia and Yemen give religious motivations. Yet, the irony of the reasons provided for restricting free online access are made clear when the likes of Ghana, Armenia and Colombia are amongst the countries with the fewest online restrictions.

This infographic of online censorship shows how countries around the world grant access to the internet, as well as a worldwide ranking by country. Have a look at both documents compiled by vpnMentor, to see how the UK ranks in its performance against other countries.

SOURCE vpnMentor