South Korea increased its filtering across content categories to include a selective
number of the Korean-language pornography Web sites, but otherwise remained consistent with its 2006 filtering practices, specifically targeting Web sites containing
North Korean propaganda or promoting the reunification of North and South Korea,
as well as a handful of gambling Web sites. In contrast to 2006, ONI in 2007–2008
found no evidence of filtering of pornography and religious conversion sites in Pakistan. Otherwise, Pakistan continued to engage in security and conflict filtering as well
as social filtering of Web sites containing ‘‘blasphemous’’ content.
The ONI found no evidence of national filtering in Indonesia, Laos, Nepal, or the
Philippines. During ONI testing periods, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Malaysia were
not filtering the Internet, but media reported that these countries also began blocking
selectively for brief periods in 2007–2008.
Internet in Asia
Asia continues to be home to some of the most and least connected countries in the
world, while a large middle tier of countries are witnessing rapid and steady growth.
In 2008, Thailand and Vietnam each reached penetration rates of a quarter of their
populations. 1 China trailed at 22.6 percent, 2 though in 2008 it became the country
with the most Internet users in the world, at 298 million. 3 China, where the number
of Internet users increased 42 percent from 2007, 4 also saw remarkable growth in
broadband usage. Over 90 percent of Internet users in China had broadband access by
the end of 2008, a spike of over 100 million. 5 In contrast, concerns about a saturated
market were prominent in South Korea, which by early 2008 had become the most
penetrated broadband market in the world at 90 percent of households. 6 While Malaysia, with a penetration rate of 61 percent, trailed behind only Singapore in Southeast
Asia and has strongly encouraged adoption of broadband Internet throughout the
country, 7 broadband penetration only surpassed 17 percent in the third quarter of
2008, from 7 percent in 2005. 8
On the opposite end of the spectrum, countries with less than a 10 percent Internet
penetration rate including India, Nepal, and the Philippines have been actively promoting and investing in infrastructure and access, particularly in rural areas that have
been affected most profoundly by the digital divide. About 80 percent of Bangladesh’s
fixed-line connections are installed in or around its four largest cities, yet about 80 percent of all Bangladeshis live outside these cities. 9 In Nepal, with an Internet penetration rate of only 1.4 percent, 10 the Nepal Wireless Project wirelessly connected 22
remote mountain villages to the Internet in five years, allowing villagers to exchange
information about commodity prices, local goods, and markets, and implemented telemedicine facilities. 11
410
Asia Overview
number of the Korean-language pornography Web sites, but otherwise remained consistent with its 2006 filtering practices, specifically targeting Web sites containing
North Korean propaganda or promoting the reunification of North and South Korea,
as well as a handful of gambling Web sites. In contrast to 2006, ONI in 2007–2008
found no evidence of filtering of pornography and religious conversion sites in Pakistan. Otherwise, Pakistan continued to engage in security and conflict filtering as well
as social filtering of Web sites containing ‘‘blasphemous’’ content.
The ONI found no evidence of national filtering in Indonesia, Laos, Nepal, or the
Philippines. During ONI testing periods, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Malaysia were
not filtering the Internet, but media reported that these countries also began blocking
selectively for brief periods in 2007–2008.
Internet in Asia
Asia continues to be home to some of the most and least connected countries in the
world, while a large middle tier of countries are witnessing rapid and steady growth.
In 2008, Thailand and Vietnam each reached penetration rates of a quarter of their
populations. 1 China trailed at 22.6 percent, 2 though in 2008 it became the country
with the most Internet users in the world, at 298 million. 3 China, where the number
of Internet users increased 42 percent from 2007, 4 also saw remarkable growth in
broadband usage. Over 90 percent of Internet users in China had broadband access by
the end of 2008, a spike of over 100 million. 5 In contrast, concerns about a saturated
market were prominent in South Korea, which by early 2008 had become the most
penetrated broadband market in the world at 90 percent of households. 6 While Malaysia, with a penetration rate of 61 percent, trailed behind only Singapore in Southeast
Asia and has strongly encouraged adoption of broadband Internet throughout the
country, 7 broadband penetration only surpassed 17 percent in the third quarter of
2008, from 7 percent in 2005. 8
On the opposite end of the spectrum, countries with less than a 10 percent Internet
penetration rate including India, Nepal, and the Philippines have been actively promoting and investing in infrastructure and access, particularly in rural areas that have
been affected most profoundly by the digital divide. About 80 percent of Bangladesh’s
fixed-line connections are installed in or around its four largest cities, yet about 80 percent of all Bangladeshis live outside these cities. 9 In Nepal, with an Internet penetration rate of only 1.4 percent, 10 the Nepal Wireless Project wirelessly connected 22
remote mountain villages to the Internet in five years, allowing villagers to exchange
information about commodity prices, local goods, and markets, and implemented telemedicine facilities. 11
410
Asia Overview