Defining Internet Freedom
I’ve written an essay called “The Enigma of Internet Freedom” that appears in this month’s eJournal USA, which is published by the U.S. State Department. Here’s the introduction:
Rhetorically, everyone supports Internet freedom. “Freedom,” though, means quite different things, and carries diverse weights when measured against other interests in various countries and cultures. This normative divergence plays out in debates over access, threats to freedom, online content controls, and governance. In short, the concept of “Internet freedom” holds within it a set of conflicts about how the ‘Net should function. Acknowledging openly these tensions is better than clinging to wording that masks inevitable, hard choices.
Filed under: Filtering, First Amendment, Intermediaries, international, Internet & Society, ISP, Privacy