Global censorship of the Internet growing

State-led censorship of the Internet is growing internationally. This is the claim of a study of so-called Internet filtering by the Open Net Initiative.

"The study of thousands of websites across 120 Internet Service Providers found 25 of 41 countries surveyed showed evidence of content filtering." The study found that services such as Skype and Google Maps were blocked. This "state-mandated net filtering" only existed in "a couple" of states in 2002, according to one researcher. "In five years we have gone from a couple of states doing state-mandated net filtering to 25," John Palfrey, from Harvard Law School, said. Palfrey is the executive director of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society. He added: "There has also been an increase in the scale, scope and sophistication of internet filtering." ONI (Open Net Initiative) consists of research groups from the universities of Toronto, Harvard Law School, Oxford and Cambridge. It picked 41 countries to research in which testing could be carried out in safety and where, the researchers felt, there was "the most to learn about government online surveillance." Countries which carry out the widest range of filtering include: Burma (Myanmar), Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen, according to the study. The study found three primary reasons for filtering: politics and power, security concerns and social norms. The report claimed:

"In a growing number of states around the world, internet filtering has huge implications for how connected citizens will be to the events unfolding around them, to their own cultures, and to other cultures and shared knowledge around the world."

Since peaceful coexistence is based on good communication and shared knowledge of each other, this is a frightening trend. Rafal Rohozinski, Research Fellow of the Cambridge Security Programme, said that: "Once filtering is begun, it is applied to a broad range of content and can be used for expanding government control of cyberspace." What makes the Internet wonderful is the sense of freedom of information it provides, a level playing field where every individual can take part equally in the giving and receiving of knowledge. When I first went on the Internet, it made me giddy. Government control would be one more way of preventing us from truly learning about each other and exchanging information, the basis, I contend, for peace. Governments, it seems, do not make peace; individuals do.