Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
geopolitical circumstances (e.g., openness to foreign investment), both government
authorities and their opponents resort to changing tactics. Overt control over cy-
bercafés, for example, may give way to government blockages of dissident websites,
while opposition groups may utilize foreign proxy servers, anonymizing software, or
texting by cell phones to circumvent such obstacles. The outcome of such contes-
tations is inevitably path dependent, contingent, and unpredictable.
In this light, a rough sequence of stages of internet censorship summarizes the
major forms of state political intervention as they vary over time. Generally,
authoritarian governments in countries with low internet penetration rates resort to
relatively crude measures, such as restricting public access through licenses and
monitoring of cybercafes. A national, sanitized intranet may be offered as a sub-
stitute for the global internet. Cuba, Vietnam, and Burma/Myanmar exemplify this
approach. As more people move on-line, including rising home personal computer
ownership rates, a more complex, expensive, and cumbersome set of censorship
mechanisms is called for, including firewalls and blocking or filtering web-site
access. Arrests and imprisonment of cyberdissidents may be common. China,
Kazakhstan, and Saudi Arabia are prime exemplars of these tactics. A third stage
involves widespread internet access, in which ''soft'' censorship tactics are the
norm, particularly self-censorship and encouraging ISPs to police their users.
Singapore and Russia illustrate this type and degree of government intervention.
Finally, at least in the hopes of many optimistic observers, widespread internet
usage can overwhelm the state's capacity to control dissent, as in northern Europe
and the U.S. and Canada.
3.2 Regional Configurations of Internet Censorship
There is a highly uneven topography of internet censorship around the globe, one
that reflects the geographies of the world's diverse political systems, the extent of
internet penetration rates, the social, cultural, and economic constitutions of var-
ious societies, and the degree of political opposition. Such complexity means that
patterns of internet censorship do not lend themselves readily to pat character-
izations but require a more detailed, case-by-case analysis. The uneven landscapes
of internet censorship reflect the complex intersections between the growth of
cyberspace and a large variety of regional, national, and local political and cultural
contexts. Decisions of whether and how to regulate internet access reflect the
degree of centralization of political control, cultural attitudes toward dissent, and
geopolitical concerns, particularly for states seeking to attract foreign investment.
For example, countries seeking to promote development of an information tech-
nology sector or international exports of services (e.g., Malaysia), including
tourism, are often concerned that internet censorship can diminish the revenues
from such efforts. This section explores internet censorship in various world
regions to illustrate that like other aspects of cyberspace, including e-commerce
