In the article, “Who is the true enemy of Internet freedom-China, Russia, or the US?” (Morozov, 2015), the author discusses the issue regarding who poses a greater threat to the Internet- China, Russia or America. The policies implemented by China and Russia may seem as a threat to the free Internet, however America poses a greater threat due to its aggressive nature , and thus the actions taken by China and Russia are justified.
Undeniably, there is a huge American influence over the rest of the world via the Internet. As such, actions have been taken by nations such as China and Russia technologically for self-defense. In the article, Morozov stated that “the US wants to access data generated by anybody anywhere as long as American companies handle it.” This implies that there is a possibility of America intruding one’s technological sovereignty and privacy. Hence, actions taken China and Russia can be viewed as a response to America’s offensive move in the first place. Similarly in Russia, Internet censorship is in the works with RuNet. According to Bodner (2014), “Russia was planning to entirely cut off the Russian Internet — known as RuNet — but due to the “unpredictable behavior” of the U.S. and EU, “we (Russia) have to think about how to ensure our national security.” This highlights Russia’s need for self-defense against US’s actions on the Internet.
Russia and China also implemented such measures to protect themselves from the vast reach of the American government surveillance. America has been in the spotlight in many spying incidents, such as the recent incident involving former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden when sensitive details about global surveillance projects by the US were leaked.
Another example of US surveillance involved US technological firm Google. According to Koutonin (2013), “Google is not just a simple search engine. It’s the biggest spying tool ever created.” Much data, both sensitive and insensitive, is stored on Google’s servers. All this information may be made available to the American government with a few clicks of the mouse. This poses a threat to many countries’ national security, and large nations such as China and Russia are especially concerned with this threat. As a result, measures have been taken to protect against such threat.
China and Russia wish to achieve sovereignty and they have taken measures towards attaining this goal. For example, the Great Firewall of China is one such measure. The Great Firewall of China is possibly the largest and most extensive case of Internet censorship today. In a country with a population exceeding 1 billion, the Chinese government is resistant towards external influences on their people. Hence, implementation of the firewall essentially cuts off foreign influence (mainly American influence) on their people. This gives the Chinese government dominance over its people, achieving sovereignty domestically and technologically.
In addition, measures such as the Great Firewall can help China and Russia stake a claim on the Internet. Staking a claim on the Internet may seem like an absurd idea due to the World Wide Web being an infinite space. Nevertheless, one must admit that the Internet is currently overrun with American control and influence due to the dominance of American technological giants like Google and Microsoft. Hence, America seemingly holds a large stake on the Internet, with its influence spreading far and wide. All 3 nations – America, China and Russia – can be considered global powerhouses and naturally, they wish to have a high level of influence and authority on the Internet as well. Thus, China and Russia are trying to catch up with American which has been dominant on the Internet for many years.
In conclusion, measures taken by nations such as China and Russia are not only to maintain their sovereignty but also to protect themselves due to the threat of spying or surveillance posed by the US. As stated by Morozov, “the concept of technological sovereignty is poised to emerge as one of the most important and contentious doctrines of 2015.” As a result, such measures can also be viewed as ways to assert dominance and power in a world dominated by American influence.
References
1) Evgeny Morozov (2015, January 4), Who’s the true enemy of internet freedom – China, Russia, or the US?, Retrieved from: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jan/04/internet-freedom-china-russia-us-google-microsoft-digital-sovereignty
2) Matthew Bodner (2014, September 19), Russian’s Internet Increasingly Subject to Control, Retrieved from: http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/russians-internet-increasingly-subject-to-control/507449.html
3) Mawuna Remarquw Koutonin (2013, June 20), Why China and Russia banned Google from their country?, Retrieved from: http://www.siliconafrica.com/why-china-and-russia-banned-google-from-their-country/
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