Freedom Is Not Found Online

The growth of the internet has long been perceived as a key to globalizing the notion of a free society as championed by the West. But world leaders like Bill Clinton and dot-com boomers alike now sound naïve to have thought the web's spread could seamlessly produce a "borderless" world of free expression. These "cyber-utopians" failed to realize that the Internet, like the telegraph and other technologies before it, remains subject to the actions of the state. Autocracies across the world have used both the carrot and the stick to control the use of the internet, jailing dissident bloggers while also making small payments to those posting pro-government material. As more of the world becomes connected, greater change is likely to happen. But the struggle for control over the Internet’ will continue. – YaleGlobal