Countries that are enemies of the Internet
As netizens in democratic countries focus on the dangers lurking in the online sphere, Beijing authorities have tightened their ropes and used digital media to enhance their power.
Also, Chinese companies supply telecom hardware, data analysis tools, and facial recognition technology to some governments with not-so-impressive human rights records.
This benefits not just the repressive local authorities that purchase these tools but also Chinese intelligence services who mine the data collected by their technologies.
China is also providing assistance to Iran to create a “Halal internet”. This would be a countrywide internet that will not be connected to the World Wide Web and will be under the full control of the government.
On one hand, China wants to create a Halal internet, on the other hand, China has held a million Muslims in internment camps, mainly due to non-violent online activities.
In December 2017, a protest took place in Mashhad, Iran to show people’s discontent with the soaring prices and a failing economy.
The street protest soon gained momentum and spread out to other cities, becoming a large demonstration of dissatisfaction with the government.
The Iranian authorities responded by throttling and even shutting down the internet networks. Several apps, including Telegram and Instagram, were blocked for over a week.
In April 2018, secure messaging app Telegram was completely blocked, citing government security as the reason. It was argued that the app supported dangerous terrorist groups.
The year 2018 saw several restrictions in the online sphere. There were instances of self-censorship, a number of blocked news websites, and arrests of people who voiced their opinion against the president’s military operations.
In January 2018, some Turkish internet users disapproved the Operation Olive Branch, a cross-border operation in Afrin, Syria. Voicing opinions against this operation counted as terrorism and resulted in several arrests.
The government also prosecuted those who “insulted” President Erdoğan on social media, leading to prison terms of up to four years.
According to the numbers released by their ministry, almost 50,000 social media accounts were investigated for terrorist content, and more than 20,000 legal actions were taken.
While South Korea cyberspace is vibrant and creative, there are several restrictive laws that mar the online freedom of its netizens.
The National Security Act of 1948 states that expressing sympathy with or praising the North Korea regime can land you in prison for up to seven years.
Defamation (spoken slander or written libel) is also a criminal offense in South Korea and can put you behind bars for up to five years. Any content that challenges the social values of the country or “benefits” the other Korea is deleted or blocked.
While these countries are considered the obvious enemies of the internet, there might be more culprits.
For example, Australia has brought some extreme internet laws that allow the government to collect metadata, and it’s among the most intrusive data collection schemes in the Western world.
The Australian government also requires companies to have a “backdoor” to their encrypted technologies so the government can access whatever data they want.
Western countries are quickly becoming the enemies of the internet, even though the UN Human Rights Council passed resolution that declares internet freedom as a basic human right. It censures internet shutdowns but the trend of blocking online access has become common in several countries around the world.
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