International Public Opinion Says Government Should Not Limit Internet Access: All Nations Polled Support Principle of Press Freedom, and Half Want More Freedom But Many Muslims and Russians Accept Press Restrictions to Preserve Political Stability

Abstract

In all nations polled there is robust support for the principle that the media should be free of government control and that citizens should even have access to material from hostile countries. With just a few exceptions majorities say that the government should not have the right to limit access to the internet. But while most publics say the government should not have the right to prohibit publishing material it thinks will be politically destabilizing, a majority in several predominantly Muslim countries and nearly half of Russians say that governments should have such a right. In many countries, majorities want more media freedom.