Why Governments Fear The Internet

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Perhaps the most enticing thing about the internet is that it is a place where information roams free. The way in which the internet works has provided the closest thing that we have ever had to a global communications network and it is this freedom of information that has left governments worldwide petrified.

You may have seen the recent story of Pakistan banning YouTube, you probably know about the growing desperation of the Chinese government to censor this network of information and you might have sympathised with the Afghan student who was sentenced to death for downloading information about women’s rights.

But it isn’t just so-called non-liberal regimes that are struggling to contain the internet – while the British government slowly adapts to the concept that the internet has become a new hub for crime and the US struggles to monitor the sheer weight of information being exchanged the world wide web has not only become the newest battlefield for global politicians, but one with distinct parallels to the Vietnam war.

Unplugging the internet
The example of China’s internet battle is perhaps the most straightforward to put in this kind of comparison. The global superpower remains petrified that what they would consider western propaganda is accessible to its citizens. From civil rights to the Dalai Lama and Tibet, China is desperate to censor information it deems unsuitable for its populace.

The problem for China is that keeping the information accessible to its people ‘friendly and in the public interest’ is a little like trying to build up a wall of pebbles to stop the incoming tide. That wall of pebbles is currently known as the golden shield project, or more commonly as the Great Firewall of China, and its role is one of censorship.

However, the battle to make this wall impenetrable will, in all probability, never succeed. Why? Because people on either side of the ‘wall’ are desperate that information should be free, and any tactics that the government can bring about, even the ‘napalm’ blanket bans that are currently in place, are fought with guerrilla tactics that are effective, easy to set up and well suited to the landscape.

Many access points
For example, Google China and the major Chinese search engine censor certain websites and information, but anyone willing to apply themselves to finding out the necessary data could easily find one of the thousands of mirror sites that spring up far faster than any censor can ban or restrict.

The superpower may be trying to squash a rag tag collective of individuals, but they know the environment far better than any government, are prepared to break the rules and are adept at spotting the cracks in any system. And just like Vietnam, China might one day have to accept that this is a battle that they can never hope to win.

Pakistan’s decision to ban YouTube has been attributed to two controversial incidents – the first and more obvious one being the Danish cartoon depictions of the prophet Mohammed which have sparked a massive debate over freedom of speech against incitement of a religious group. The second reason, it has been suggested, is that YouTube had the trailer for right-wing Dutch politician Geert Wilders latest rant against the rise of Islam in Europe.

YouTube © Martin Keene/ PA
However, Pakistan’s decision to ban YouTube immediately attracted the ire of thousands of bloggers and websites across the net and, inevitably, a video which would probably not have attracted nearly as much attention is now sweeping across the world wide web.

By attempting to censor something on the internet, Pakistan’s government has merely served to propagate the video to thousands of other sites by wrapping it in infamy.

In Afghanistan, Sayed Pervez Kambaksh was sentenced to death for downloading information about women’s rights. Despite the likes of US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice and the UK’s foreign secretary David Miliband pushing for a reprieve, Pervez remains in prison with the threat of execution hanging over him – but it seems the Afghan government has merely served to publicise its draconian information policies.

Pervez's prison in Afghanistan © AP Photo/Sameer Najafizada
Of course, the internet’s freedom comes at a price; with the ease in which mass censorship can be circumvented meaning that things like child abuse pictures are difficult to prevent changing hands, but the very essence of the web means that, for all the shadows that accompany any kind of human social interaction, the potential for good is of paramount importance.

The governments will keep on fighting for control of information because with it comes power; the power to control the populace through propaganda, through spin, by limiting alternatives and by covering up information about the reality both within and without of its borders.

There is something satisfying about the fact that the internet – a tool created by the American military to survive disaster – has become a means of communication that no mere government can prevent.

Nice post Br. Rich,

Many societies have existed and have been able to maintaine inhumane practices chiefly due to their governments abliity to limit what the people get to see, read or watch - in short knowledge is limited to what is allowed through the censorship net.

With the internet our world becomes a small place where one can access and understand how people live anywhere. From a villiage in China one can look into our Western way of life (and freedoms *gasp* ) and talk with others firsthand. Today we can learn how anyone lives and thinks at a click of a button, bypassing all the official published government info we can go on line and talk with Joe the farmer, or Farid the heardsman, or Jacques the vinyard operator, who have their own viewpoints.

It is a firts step in becoming a true global community

Long Live the internet!!!

BTW, its standard practice for ALL emails to be scanned by agencies for key words n phrases

If you meet certain criteria, you then gain the honour of being watched (ie all web usage monitored, possible phone/fax taps)

The UK (under the guise of war on terror) want constant records kept of ALL its citizens internet usage (urls, time etc etc etc) as well as email contacts.

Liberty my ar..... armpit

btw, Good Evening home secretary, im watching you watching me watchin you blah blah... want a copy of my drives, just look or ask, im sure you and your underlings do this anyway to many net users

GROW UP AND DEAL WITH THE REAL CRIMINALS,

This sort of 'monitoring' may make life for the bad guys difficult in the short term, but in my opinion, it will simply drive them further underground and even harder to 'watch'

Google China is interesting place to look at for 'censorship'

MTFBWY - A

True big brother could be watching...I wonder if we fit into the 'radicals' group? :blink:

Probably... but those with something to fear generally have something to hide

I have neither in this instance, and whilst a side note it is related, Catholicism in the UK has been losing its membership by the thousands for the last 20 or so years, and if the idea that people 'need' a faith, the governments may as well get used to the idea of Jediism being around and here to stay.

I have just registered under the ULC as a Jediist, ULC is a recognised religious organisation in the UK so that one is now sorted out as far as clergy like things go for me here (Must give a massive thank you to Brother Alex (Xell) for help in this matter)

No, whilst a slightly different thing but related, all this 'stuff' about illegal information etc on the internet.

Here is my take, at the end of the day, all sites are hosted somewhere, no I see no reason why the governments can force the hosts as grass roots to clean up the internet. Someone, somewhere is (for example) hosting Child Pornography. If the hosts were taken to court for assisting the distribution of this (and other unwelcome material) im sure all the hosts would suddenly find a way to eradicate it.

Why spend millions hunting the individuals and wasting many man hours in the process when the rot can be taken out from the roots? Think about how the internet generally worls and youll see what I mean.

You may have heard of a UK glam rock singer, Paul Gadd (aka Gary Glitter) now he was caught out with child pron on his pc when he took it into be be fixed and the engineers found it. No doubt Gadd's lawyers screamed privacy etc but i sure a Judge would see whilst techniaclly the privacy laws were broken, the common sense and public duty (let alone moral one) over ride in this instance. Anyway, he was again caught in Thailand (or somewhere similar) and locked up for it.

Is this again big brother? im not sure, i guess this sort of thing represents the snowflake at the tip of the iceberg. Anything the government really need to be concerned about on the internet, I feel could for the most part be taken out at the host level.

Whilst I support freedoms etc, is it right to have sites that show you how to make bombs, and explicit images of those under the age of consent (another heated debate subject in its own right)

MTFBWY - A

Again well put, I too do not fear anyone watching me as I have nothing to hide. It's just the principal of the whole thing, especially when it's taken too far. When it comes to illegal activity no prob, thats the risk of knowlingly participating.

I haven't heard of anything like ULC here in Canada, but I would be very interested if anyone knows more.

Universal Life Church... quick google will find it for you, I think it may be linked here as well

http://www.themonastery.org/

(Remembered I had an email from them) you will no doubt recognise the banner form the top of this site

MTFBWY - A