Internet Regulation
What do Egypt, India, China, and the United States have in common? They all are subject to some variation of internet regulation from their governments. Internet regulation has become a global issue as many people are questioning what authorities and personal freedoms that infringes on, and on the opposing end many people are for this sort of government “protection”. Here is the United States we are accustomed to being able to look up what we want when we want, and have a whole lot of freedom with our internet access. What we don’t all know is that every year the government asks large companies such as Yahoo and Google to censor or delete websites and topics that their search engines bring up, so that we will not have access to them. “In the last half of 2011, U.S. agencies asked Google to remove 6,192 individual pieces of content from its search results, blog posts or archives of online videos, according to the report” ("Google reporting "alarming" rise in government censorship requests") This might be a surprising number, but other countries in the West and especially so in the East are exercising this censorship as well. “Meanwhile, nations like China, Iran, Syria, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia and others continue to aggressively filter Internet content and silence their critics, often with the aid of Western technology” ("Efforts to preserve online freedom reveals threats") Egyptian and Indian government are also regulating and censoring their internet access, as well as Egypt completely shutting off their citizens from internet access in 2010. The question stands is this global issue okay? It is valid for the government to bend and break the information we as the citizens are able to access?
Internet regulation and censorship in some countries is, in most cases, a very good thing. The Arab Spring shows us that cultural and religious tension can be exacerbated by information people find on the internet. The Arab Spring being a combination of violent and
Internet regulation and censorship in some countries is, in most cases, a very good thing. The Arab Spring shows us that cultural and religious tension can be exacerbated by information people find on the internet. The Arab Spring being a combination of violent and
Cited: Bradsher, . "In The Latest Crackdown, China Toughens Rules on Internet Users." New York Times 29 Dec 2012, n. pag. Web. 1 Apr. 2013. Glanz, Markoff. "Egypt Leader Found 'Off ' Switch for Internet." New York Times 15 Feb 2011,n. pag. Web. 1 Apr. 2013. Sutter, John D., writ. "Google reporting "alarming" rise in government censorship requests." CNNTECH. CNN: 19 Jun 2012. Web. 1 Apr 2013 Temple, James, writ. "Efforts to preserve online freedom reveals threats." Business. SFGate: San Francisco, 27 Nov 2012. Web. 1 Apr 2013.