World Press Freedom Day: Nations Support Press and Internet Freedom

A new worldwide poll finds widespread support for freedom of the press and strong opposition to government restrictions on Internet access.

WorldPublicOpinion.org is releasing the new 20-country poll for World Press Freedom Day on May 3. The survey, which includes 18,122 respondents, is one of a series conducted by WPO this year to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 19 of the declaration states that everyone has the right to "receive and impart information and ideas through any media."

WorldPublicOpinion.org is a collaborative project managed by the Program on International Policy Attitudes at the University of Maryland that involves research centers around the world. The countries studied, China, India, the United States, Indonesia, Nigeria, Russia, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Britain, Egypt, France, Iran, Jordan, Mexico, Peru, Poland, South Korea, Turkey, Ukraine, and the Palestinian Territories, represent about 59 percent of the world's population..

Majorities in all but two of the countries polled say "people should have the right to read whatever is on the Internet." This includes seven out of ten in China, where the government has imposed restrictions on Internet access. Overall, 60 percent of those polled favor the right to full access.

Only a third of those polled around the world (32 percent) say the government "should have the right to prevent people from having access to some things on the Internet." Jordan is the only country where a majority (63 percent) favors such restrictions.

The broader principle of press freedom gets even wider support. Majorities in all countries polled consider it important for the "media to be free to publish news and ideas without government control." An average of 82 percent say this is important, including 53 percent who consider it very important.

"The principle that the media should be free of government control receives robust support from all corners of the world," said Steven Kull, director of WorldPublicOpinion.org. "With few exceptions, people think that the Internet should be free of government control as well."