pol106 week 6: information controls in the digital age

what is path dependence?

the concept of early set trajectories being difficult to change

what are the implications of path dependence in the digital age?

solidifies the decentralized and distributed nature of the internet, but also preserves inefficient mechanisms like the QWERY keyboard

how do internet communities influence governance?

US communities like the Internet Engineering Task Force or ICANN influence through consensus and negotiation

how does the First Amendment influence governance?

prevents government restrictions on free speech

how does Section 230 of the Communications Act influence governance?

determines that ISPs are not liable for user-generated content

what are the implications of Section 230 of the Communications Act?

allows platforms to moderate without being deemed as publishers, and allows users to amplify objectionable content made by others without being liable 

why did Section 230 emerge in 1996?

America was losing its manufacturing industry due to outsourcing to more low-cost states, so Clinton wanted to protect American interests in the emerging “information superhighway”

what are the combined effects of the First Amendment and the Communications Act?

US governments to regulate social media face constitutional challenges, and social media platforms can argue they themselves have First Amendment rights

what is liberation technology?

information and communication technology (ICT) that can expand social, political, and economic freedoms

why did the concept of the internet as liberation technology gain attention?

popularized by Diamond (2010), and gained attention during the 2010-11 Arab Spring

who notably believed in the internet’s liberalizing potential, and what did they say about it?

Bill Clinton, who said China’s attempt at censorship is like “trying to nail jello to a wall”

what is the implication of the US’s “internet freedom” agenda?

benefits US economy as US firms dominate the tech scene

how have authoritarian states successfully combatted internet freedom?

censored foreign media and saturated domestic media with disinformation

how have US companies enabled censorship in authoritarian states?

Cisco collaborated with the creation of the Great Firewall in China through technical assistance, and both Cisco and Yahoo help identify Chinese dissidents to authorities

what are the three styles of internet governance?

internet freedom in the US, protective regulation balancing rights and freedoms in the EU, and digital sovereignty for authoritarian control in China

what are the regulatory measures in the EU which ensure a balance of internet rights and freedoms?

General Data Protection Regulation for right to privacy
Digital Services Act for transparency obligations for ISPs

AI Act for risk-based AI regulation

what are other examples of authoritarian countries practicing digital sovereignty presented by Guichard et. al (2023)?

Myanmar and Belarus 

what are swing states?

states where governance styles are undecided

what is internet shutdown?

intentional disruptions of internet services

what are the impacts of internet shutdown presented by Guicherd (2023)?

limits democratic rights

what is securitization theory and how does it relate to internet shutdown?

process where an issue is represented as a national security threat to justify extreme government action, which allows countries like Myanmar and Belarus to justify internet shutdown