Here is a very cool map of the world showing countries color-coded by the openness of their internet access.

Thanks to Randall Parker over at ParaPundit for this. Randall draws some larger implications, which I think are correct:

“[T]he overall world trend is toward more dictatorships and controls on free speech and press. Russia has been on the road toward less freedom … at least since Vladimir Putin took office. The Venezuela of Hugo Chavez is going down a similar path. Democracy in Iraq has not produced a panacea.
“Look at the big picture. The Europeans are not reproducing. The Muslims are making more babies and the Muslims aren’t much interested in freedom of religion and freedom of speech when such freedoms can lead people to say and do things against Islam. Africa is a thoroughly corrupt place where freedom to access the internet is irrelevant for people living on 1 or 2 dollars per day. Governments in Africa are too incompetent to regulate internet access but their populaces are mostly too poor and illiterate to make use of web sites.
“The rise of East Asia and the decline of the West argue for a more authoritarian future.”

[Derb] I feel the same way. Looking round the world right now, the prospects for an advance of liberty are not very encouraging.