Web-based surveys have revealed that internet users believe the internet is a place for freedom of expression, with users in countries with stricter government controls on media and press tending to support this idea even more. Nearly all users surveyed opposed the idea of government monitoring of the internet. Yet the researchers, led by the Oxford Internet Institute, found a ‘surprisingly large’ proportion of users worldwide (63%) were ‘resigned’ to thinking that government monitoring went on, but a larger proportion of users in nations of the New Internet World perceived higher levels of government control of the internet than users in countries that were early adopters of the internet. The surveys were carried out in 2012 before the disclosures of Edward Snowden and his claims about US and other governmental surveillance initiatives. The researchers compared attitudes of the Old Internet World (dominated by users from North America and Western Europe) with a New Internet World (of users in Asia, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, China, Peru, Mexico, South Arabia and Egypt). They surveyed over 11,000 people and found that on the whole, users across all nations surveyed were positive about the opportunities offered by the internet, particularly the opportunities for freedom of
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