Working with the OpenNet Initiative, researchers from Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard and Toronto universities surveyed countries in Asia, the Middle East and North Africa to find what information was denied passage into the country via the Internet, and reportedly plan to turn the research into an annual process.
The group found that each country had its own idea of what should be censored from online view, but all topics were those considered "antithetical to social norms," and include pornography and gay/lesbian-oriented content.
"This survey shows us that online censorship is growing around the world," said John Palfrey, Harvard law professor and executive director of the Berman Center for Internet and Society.
Six countries were labeled "pervasive" social filterers: Myanmar, China, Iran, Syria, Tunisia and Vietnam, and researchers also discovered that filtering systems have grown increasingly advanced as the Internet has expanded.
"Instead of just blocking static websites, such as pages online that show pornographic pictures or information about human rights, online censors are blocking entire applications, such as YouTube," the study's results stated.
Research also showed that many countries, including Iraq, Israel and Russia, did not employ Internet filters, contrary to initial hypotheses.
The group reported that the U.S. and European countries did not participate in the survey because of their understanding of filtering practices compared to other countries in the world.
