What will be the fate of the Internet in the coming years? In the wake of the devastating attack in France, the digital community is striving to keep its balance between security and political freedoms.
For now it appears to be reeling from bloodshed and horrific acts of terrorism, while the predictable responses being floated include increased electronic surveillance, repressive extremist propaganda, and border discounts for encryption and protecting online privacy. These mechanisms were in place before last Friday's attacks, but now appear to be more entrenched.
Regardless of what you think, for the effectiveness and legitimacy of Internet constraints to prevent violence, cyber-surveillance demand levels are unprecedented.
Generally speaking, the Internet is not an example of rampant autonomy, but rather a good example of diffuse repression. Last month, an international study reported the disappointing reminder that most of the world is censored on the Internet. The limitation of the use of the Internet seems to be staggered over the last five consecutive years.
Freedom House, a non-profit group on human rights, he researched (PDF) Internet surveillance in 65 countries around the world. They found that over 64 percent of countries require individuals and businesses to erase or restrict content that covers political, religious or social issues. This reflects an increase of 13 percent from the previous year.
The stakes for violating government restrictions are high. Imprisonment for online participation in controversial themeτα onlin, που κυμαίνονται από την review Thailand's monarchy in a video released online showing a gay wedding in Egypt and many, many other examples. All of course validated by the state.
Iceland, Estonia and Canada have the most freedoms, while Iran, Syria and China are the fewer. The country with the biggest fall in freed from last year was Libya, in the light of anti-blogger and sharp political censorship.
Two countries had the second largest drop in online freedoms. The first was Ukraine, as a country prosecuting the content of the web site, and the second country, demonstrating the incoherence for preserving democratic values in the era of terror, was France.
The country ranks ninth, in front of the United Kingdom, and was criticized for the expansive restrictions on online content that could be seen as an apology for terrorism. The report reported cases such as conceiving 16hrono for the publication of cartoon politics on Facebook, and condemning a comic actor for his controversial positions. Such cases raise concerns and dilemmas in which security and freedom of speech are placed very easily with contradictory roles. These are, of course, critically important issues to consider in the light of recent attacks.
Every year, millions of new citizens of the world have access στο διαδίκτυο, αλλά παρ'ολα αυτά το διαδίκτυο φαίνεται να συρρικνώνεται. Οι κυβερνήσεις, από το πιο δημοκρατικές έως τις περισσότερο αυταρχικές, θυσιάζουν την ψηφιακή ελευθερία στο name of security.
Now maybe it's time for an open dialogue around the Internet at a crucial turning point in its history.
TNW
