The New Internet World

A Global Perspective on Freedom of Expression, Privacy, Trust and Security Online A contribution to: The Global Information Technology Report 2010–2011 Worldwide diffusion of the Internet is focusing debate around values and attitudes that are likely to vary across cultures, particularly around online freedom of expression, privacy, trust, and security. These are prominent topics of discussion amongst leading Internet stakeholders, such as private and public sector members, governments, policymakers, and the media. However, we know relatively little about the opinions of users around the world. How do users see these issues, and how do they experience the impact of the Internet in these areas? This study reports the results of a survey of over 5,400 adult Internet users from 13 different countries. The online survey was conducted by the Oxford Internet Institute (OII) and INSEAD, in collaboration with comScore. It was designed to better understand cross-cultural differences in user behaviour and attitudes, focusing on the core Internet values of freedom of expression, privacy, trust, and security.