Saunders, Kevin W. --- "Balkanizing the Internet" [2012] ELECD 692; in Pager, A. Sean; Candeub, Adam (eds), "Transnational Culture in the Internet Age" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2012)

Book Title: Transnational Culture in the Internet Age

Editor(s): Pager, A. Sean; Candeub, Adam

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9780857931337

Section: Chapter 5

Section Title: Balkanizing the Internet

Author(s): Saunders, Kevin W.

Number of pages: 17

Extract:

5. Balkanizing the Internet
Kevin W. Saunders

5.1 INTRODUCTION

"Bits Without Borders," the title of the conference on which this volume is
based, sounds as though it would have to be a good thing, perhaps totally
good with no downside. After all, in a borderless Internet, information is
available everywhere. Even in a country such as the United States, where
the transmission of information is largely unrestricted, understanding of
the news can be broadened through the Internet. Reading news from non-
United States sources can provide a different slant. Additionally, topics
not covered by sources in the United States may draw extensive coverage
in countries that, for example, have a colonial era tie to a particular part
of the world.
There is also a benefit from the borderless Internet in the difficulties it
raises for totalitarian regimes.1 People in countries that are less than free
and in which more traditional sources of news have been restricted may
enjoy access to Internet-based news from the outside world. Events within
the country, such as political protest, that might not have been seen on
the state-controlled media and the occurrence of which might have been
denied by the government, may become widely known from cellphone
videos uploaded to the Internet. Disaffected citizens realize that they are
not alone in their feelings toward the government, and their willingness to
engage in pro-democracy protest may increase.
While all this is clearly good, there is also a downside to an Internet
...