Searching through the OpenNet Initiative website was very informative, and it was interesting to see the different countries rules and regulations pertaining to censoring the internet. What I found the pattern to be for most countries was whatever the biggest issue that country was dealing with at the time, be it religion, politics, social standards, seemed to be the most censored for that country's internet access.
For example, one country I looked up was Venezuela, for the main reason being their current president, Hugo Chavez, has had a controversial reign in Venezuela and it is well known the U.S. government does not approve of him. Venezuela is not subject to extensive content restrictions, but they are to a few. Hugo Chavez promotes a political doctrine of democratic socialism and Latin American Integration, and he famously is a critic of U.S. foreign policy, which of course makes him an unpopular figure in the eyes of the U.S government. So the main internet filtering the Chavez administration wants to do is political, to limit freedom of the press and expression, in order to maintain his own control, and not give Venezuelan citizens any other political idea's other than the ones that already exist.
Another country I looked at was Vietnam, whose internet is regulated extensively. Ironically, the citizens are allowed to question corruption, economic policy, and government deficiencies, but the line is drawn at political criticism, involving political leaders, political parties, and sensitive social and diplomatic issues. Looking at Vietnam's history, they are a country that have constantly fought for their independence, and a country that had to make a lot of changes after the Vietnam war. I think this extends to censoring their internet, they want to keep control, because they have had so much trouble in the past, and are finally having good economic development.
Once again, I have to end my blog with being thankful that I live in a country whose internet is not highly censored, where I can look up any information I want, whether or not it makes the country look bad, and not be persecuted for my actions. Not that internet in the United States is unregulable, because it is, but we still have great amounts of freedom using it.
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4 comments:
Meredith,
Everyone should read the country report for the U.S. While we have great freedom using the Internet, companies also have great freedom to track and monitor our uses. Is corporate tracking and filtering for advertising and marketing purposes less problematic than government filtering? True, there is not the threat of persecution, as you point out so well. But there are other threats to privacy.
I think Meredith did a great job giving an overview of the countries she researched. I wanted to find someone who looked at different countries than I did so I am glad I saw she did Vietnam and Venezuela. I related my countries; Cuba, China, and North Korea to what she found. For example,she found that the main internet filtering the Chavez administration wants to do is political. That is to limit freedom of the press and expression, so that he can maintain his own control. I found the same thing in my Communist countries. I also am thankful for living in the United States without the threat of persecution, but after reading this blog I realized that I should read about our own country and stop assuming. There is a lot still for me to learn about our country's policies concerning the Internet.
As already stated, Meredith did a great job analyzing her countries. I really enjoyed reading about Vietnam. It was so interesting to read that a country with such strict internet policies allows its citizens to "to question corruption, economic policy, and government deficiencies..." but not political matters. To relate the history of such a war torn country to this restriction was very intelligent. It poses the question that history may be a large deciding factor in a country's internet filtering.
I loved reading your analysis on the different countries. I didn't know much about any of the countries that you chose, so I'm glad I got to learn more. I definitely agree about living in the United States, I can't imagine going through what some other countries do with filtering. Even though there are some things on the internet that are looked at, we still have freedom to do what we want on the internet.
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