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Sweden tops Tim Berners-Lee's web index

Sweden has topped a new global index evaluating the state of the web in 61

countries, with the US coming second and the UK third.

Compiled by Sir Tim Berners-Lee's World Wide Web Foundation, it ranked both the

social and political impact of the web.

It found that only one in three people are using the web globally and fewer

than one in six in Africa.

It highlighted censorship and high broadband prices as barriers to a "web for

all".

Using data from the past five years, it scored nations in seven different

categories.

These were: communications infrastructure - the state and availability of

web-enabling infrastructure; institutional infrastructure - education, laws,

regulation and censorship; web content - what relevant and useful content is

available; web use - the extent to which the web is used in a country;

political impact; economic impact and social impact.

WEB INDEX TOP 10

Sweden

United States

United Kingdom

Canada

Finland

Switzerland

New Zealand

Australia

Norway

Ireland

According to the index, Iceland has the greatest web use, with 95% of its

population online.

Ireland, which overall ranked 10th, gained the highest score for economic

impact with 14.8% of its gross domestic product coming from ICT service exports

between 2007 and 2010.

Yemen came bottom of the index in three categories, including social and

economic impact of the web.

Sir Tim Berners-Lee explained why he thought such an index was important: "By

shining a light on the barriers to web for everyone, the index is a powerful

tool that will empower individuals, government and organisations to improve

their societies."

'Global conversation'

According to the index, 30% of countries face moderate to severe government

restrictions on access to websites, while about half of them show increasing

threats to press freedom.

WEB INDEX BOTTOM 10

Nepal

Cameroon

Mali

Bangladesh

Namibia

Ethiopia

Benin

Burkino Faso

Zimbabwe

Yemen

"The web is a global conversation. Growing suppression of free speech, both

online and offline, is possibly the single biggest challenge to the future of

the web," warned Sir Tim.

Despite falling costs in western Europe, internet access remains a luxury in

most countries, it suggested.

Across the 61 countries surveyed, broadband connections still cost almost half

of monthly income per capita.

"The high price of connectivity is stopping billions of people from achieving

their rights to to knowledge and participation.

Costs have got to come down dramatically," said Sir Tim.