Media Stats: compare key data on United States & Western Sahara

Indicates whether websites that express views in opposition to those of the current government (mainly on issues of human rights, freedom of expression, minority rights and religious movements) are censored or blocked. This is determined by accessing websites with provocative or objectionable content in English from within the country in question as well as from a place known to have no filtering regime. The retrieved content is then compared and scanned for discrepancies. Possible differences in blocking behavior across different ISPs is considered, as well as normal connectivity problems. 

 

Values

 

“per”, pervasive filtering: A large portion of the targeted content in several categories is blocked.

 

“sub”, substantial filtering: Either a number of categories are subject to a medium level of filtering or a low level of filtering is carried out across many categories.

 

“sel”, selective filtering: A small number of specific sites across a few categories are blocked, or filtering that targets a single category or issue is present.

 

“sus”, suspected filtering: Connectivity abnormalities suggest the presence of filtering, but no conclusive proof of deliberate tampering could be found.

 

“ne”, no evidence of filtering or blocking. 

 

 “nd”, no data.