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There are some surprising names on the 'Enemies of the Internet' list, such as Australia and France. Perhaps even more surprising are some of the countries that have been dropped from the list, including Venezuela and Libya. Next year could see Burma removed as well. "The news has thus been encouraging, but it can turn on a dime," noted Sheldon Himelfrab of the United States Institute of Peace.

While developments such as the Arab Spring show the power of the Internet, there remain news blackouts, harassment of bloggers, and even attempts to shut down social media in several nations. This is one of the key findings of Reporters Without Borders, which released its annual "Enemies of the Internet" report on Monday, listing countries that curtail access to the Web and freedom of expression.

The updated list was released in conjunction with World Day Against Cyber-Censorship.

"The enemies list contains nations that fall into categories of combining drastic content filtering, track cyberdissidents, or those who present themselves on social media, blogs or Facebook," Delphine Halgand, D.C. Director at Reporters Without Borders, told TechNewsWorld.

The category of "enemies" also considers those nations that "use the Internet as a tool of propaganda," she added.

This year's list saw the addition of Bahrain and Belarus for their restrictive control of the Web. They join Burma, China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. "Supervised" countries include Australia, Egypt, India, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, United Arab Emirates, Russia, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, France, Sri Lanka, Eritrea and South Korea.

Nations in the "supervised" or "under surveillance" category have been called out for less objectionable -- but still restrictive -- practices. Australia, for example, was included because of its content-filtering plans, and France made the list due to its antipiracy laws.

Other countries were names for more repressive measures -- such as Russia, which has used cyberattacks to thwart political debate; Malaysia, known to harass bloggers; and Turkey, which blocks thousands of websites.

Thailand could join next year's Enemies of the Internet list as it has sent bloggers to prison and has undertaken content-filtering efforts.

Bahrain found itself on the list for similar reasons.

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Journalists Battle Web Censorship With Internet 'Enemies' List