Issue Four – The Era of Logic Bombs

While you & I are busy social networking, and sometimes feel proud of our immense online connect, a new information technology paradigm is unfolding, albeit in a peculiar manner – It is all pervasive. For most, predominantly, it is sharing pictures, videos and expressing opinions. However, at a deeper level, human – technology interactions are more permeative than most of us can fathom.  Banking, trading, purchases are now significantly dependent on the Internet infrastructure. In most developed countries, provision of essential services (public goods) is, in some way or another, dependent on Internet. If one resides in developing world, you would know that with every passing day, we are moving closer towards digitization of almost every essential service. This is the Click Economy, and as much as we pride ourselves on its simplicity & straightforwardness, the settings are not as straightforward, rather based on a complex set of rules. Rules or logic in computing parlance.

Logic is always susceptible to be defied, and therein lies the danger.

Internet as they say is designed for convenience and reliability. Security comes second. In this new paradigm of our inter-twined existence, individual privacy is coming up as a blatant new danger. So conspicuous, that even in highly democratic nations there are voices of discontent. Over the years, as the online population has grown, so have risen the numbers of illegal activity online. World over, governments are trying to hinder the use of internet by criminals and non-state actors. These activities to name a few include hate speech, pedophilia, fraud, terrorism, etc. However, there is a thin line between censoring unlawful activities and stifling free speech. It is observed that censorship norms across nations are arbitrary, that too in democratic nations.

Moreover, Internet censorship norms too are evolving at a rapid pace. It is not that censorship actions are taken with government decree alone. Many a time, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) informally apply censorship at the behest of government.  In addition, there is also a desire to build an internet brigade to develop and deploy technologies as and when needed.

This is a race. Every nation, irrespective of its, size and economy is on an equal footing if it has the technologies. And, this is a dangerous precedent.

With this backdrop, we present the Issue 4, our most ambitious endeavor so far, at Analectic.org to you. In this issue, we are trying to mull over the reasons why internet censorship is becoming a norm, how governments fit in to this paradigm? The technologies, their evolution and how they are employed in countries world over.

Besides, we have also tried building a snapshot of Internet censorship norms in different regions of the world. The snapshots have been prepared for the regions of Commonwealth of Independent States, Europe and Asia. These snapshots and majority of our understanding is based on the findings of Open Net Initiative publication Access Controlled. Moreover, if you would like to see the exhaustive list of resources we have utilized please see additional readings and resources.

Internet Censorship in the World – The Why and The What

Internet is changing the way societies operate and governance managed. It is disrupting government control over information flow. This is why numerous nations are stepping in to Internet Censorship domain. Governments world over are currently experimenting with numerous methods to control information flow, both domestically and sometimes in other countries for political and social ends.

Internet Censorship – The Role of Governments

World over, varied initiative are undertaken by governments to control unacceptable content. In some regions, citizens and voluntary organisations have a say in content blocking decisions, however, in most nations, content blocking is done rather arbitrarily. A dangerous scenario that unfolds presently is use of subtle measures whereby content blocking is achieved just in time.

Internet Censorship Mechanisms in the World

Internet censorship is just not limited to blocking access to web resources; it also involves legal stipulations on online behavior, and even extra legal methods to deny access. Internet censorship norms too can be categorized in 3 waves, which chart the progression of censorship norms from mere administrative measures to now a subtle pervasive approach.

Internet Censorship Scenario in Commonwealth of Independent States

Internet Censorship scenario in the countries of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan employ numerous measures to censor political and social expressions by people. In some cases, they also utilize pervasive measures to stifle speech. CIS region is the hotbed of innovative censorship practices.

Internet Censorship Scenario in European Region

Internet Censorship / filtering scenario in France, United Kingdon, Turkey, Italy, and Germany, indicate little evidences of censorship, however selective filtering of political and social expressions is applied in some nations. Moreover, EU has already approved studies of new filtering technologies to fight illegal content. The situation in Europe might change more sooner than later.

Internet Censorship Scenario in Select Asian Nations

Internet Censorship scenario in Asia is in the news primarily due to measures taken by China, Pakistan, Myanmar, South Korea. Asia is another breeding ground of internet censorship mechanisms. In most of the nations, substantial and pervasive filtering mechanisms are applied to suppress free speech. This is also a region of arbitrary censorship mechanisms.