Unplugged: When Governments Cut Internet Access

WAMU 88.5

Published January 9, 2020 at 11:06 AM EST

Governments in India, Sudan and Nicaragua, among others, have restricted access to the internet in the past year.

They say knowledge is power, and there’s no better place to acquire knowledge than the World Wide Web.

That makes the internet a target for those trying to limit the flow of information.

Authoritarian governments across the world have embraced the idea of “digital sovereignty,” or the state control of the internet as a right of its governance.

Regimes can censor search engine results, block entire websites or throw a kill switch and cause an “internet blackout.” Such decisions can have implications far outside a country’s borders.

But how does controlling the internet intersect with controlling people? And how do we work towards a more open internet for the future?

This is the second in a series of shows pitched and selected by our listeners. Hear our first segment, which was about homeschooling regulations, here

Produced by Haili Blassingame.

GUESTS

Justin Sherman, Cyber security policy fellow, New America; fellow, the Duke Center on Law and Technology, Duke University’s School of Law; @jshermcyber

Nima Fatemi, Founding director, Kandoo, a non-profit focused on cybersecurity for marginalized groups; independent security researcher; @mrphs

For more, visit https://the1a.org.