Weaving the Authoritarian Web By: Taylor C. Boas
Authoritarian Internet Control China Saudi Arabia: publicly against freedom of speech and freedom of information respectively Many believe that control of the internet means stifling that technology’s advance They have found ways to do both
History The history of the internet lends itself to evading central control Individual creators distrusted bureaucracy and only really trusted each other The US Department of Defense’s ARPANET, designed to keep individual nodes independant
Saudi Arabia Censorship supported by public concern over pornography and other Islamic issues Country setup as one large network ISPs government controlled Use blacklisted sites with an appeal process
China Uses multiple layers to secure access Block specified IP addresses Filters site with keywords and phrases Hold ISPs, internet cafes and chatroom hosts accountable for actions of users
Perfect vs. Effective Control Precautions are no where near perfect Factors which contribute –Risk –Cost –Skill Only an insignificant percentage can circumvent all three