The authoritarian regimes of the region have realized the potential of internet based communication and are making a great effort to limit the opposition's scope in the internet and to enforce the limitations to the freedom of speech, press and opinion in the digital space, too. Thereby a hide and seek situation evolves, since the internet activists are always in search of loopholes, often with the assistance of foreign hackers. Accordingly Facebook and Twitter came to rise this summer in Iran only due to the temporary shut-down of the Short Message Service enforced by the government.
At the meantime, internet activists are trying to preserve their anonymity in the internet and to bypass the instruments of the censors by using technical tricks like proxy server or virtual private networks.
Hopefully, in this digital arms race, the regimes will not prevail permanently. Western nations could help to prevent further damage by tightening their export regulations for products suitable for internet censorship.
And at least for companies with a strong concern for their image, some pressure from the civil society can make a difference. Siemens Nokia Networks already sold the branch Intelligence Solutions, which delivered the censor system, to an investment enterprise in March 2009.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
2
2
2
