A Tale of Two Internets

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Listen to the ongoing conversations on net neutrality, and you’ll notice that the United States, like other liberal-democratic countries, believes that, in the lexicon of policymakers, a freeopeninteroperablesecure, and resilient internet can be a torchbearer for an open society—and democracy more broadly. But listen to China and Russia, and you’ll notice that they march to the beat of a different drum. Rather than being a place to freely share ideas or to be secure in our interactions, the internet, as China and Russia largely tell it, is vulnerable to security threats and an inherent threat to state security. This is their justification for internet censorship, pervasive surveillance of communications, and tight control of information, all of which seek to manage the devastating effects online interactions can, and too often do, produce. Think of it this way: For Russia, China, and many others, it’s all about an internet that maintains sovereign state control.

[Robert Morgus is Justin Sherman is an intern with New America's Cybersecurity Initiative.]


A Tale of Two Internets