Information Policy

Sending a strong signal on global internet freedom

Stuart N. Brotman, Nonresident Senior Fellow - Governance Studies, Center for Technology Innovation

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Among the range of complex foreign policy issues yet to be addressed by the Trump administration is a serious concern for global internet freedom. The growing restrictions on internet freedom around the world are easy to document; less so any visible American strategy that would reverse the ominous trends at hand.

 

Internet Governance for Sustainability

Sustainability is a difficult term to avoid these days. With that in mind, it's somewhat surprising that last week's European Dialogue on Internet Governance (EuroDIG), now in its tenth year, featured one of its first workshops looking at the subject. But while the workshop focused on issues of energy usage and e-waste, the concept of sustainability raises some much broader and likely difficult questions for the Internet governance community.

Council of Europe adopts new Recommendation on Standards for E-Voting

The Committee of Ministers deputies adopted at their 1289 Session on 14 June a new Recommendation on Standards for E-Voting. The new recommendation CM/Rec (2017)5, which follows the previous Rec(2004)11, was developed to ensure that electronic voting complies with principles of democratic elections and is the only existing international standard on e-voting so far.

Satisfaction with e-government rising, but usability issues persist

Users of online government services in the UAE report high levels of satisfaction, but three quarters are suffering from usability problems, according to a survey by Boston Consulting Group.

The 2016 Digital Government Survey showed that the UAE ranked fourth overall worldwide in satisfaction with online government services, and that there has been a 39.5% growth in the number of users accessing government services at least once per week over the past two years.

Continue reading "Satisfaction with e-government rising, but usability issues persist" »

Censoring the internet is as difficult as it is futile, and Russian internet users have convincingly demonstrated this to the government this month by turning its website-blocking system against itself.

During President Vladimir Putin's third term, which began in 2012, Russia has significantly stepped up attempts to purge the internet of "extremist" views. But the Kremlin doesn't have an equivalent of China's "Great Firewall," which controls the internet through the gateways between the national segment and the rest of the global network. Instead, internet providers are required to block the sites on the blacklist of the regulator agency Roskomnadzor. 

How the Russian Internet Censor Banned Itself

Censoring the internet is as difficult as it is futile, and Russian internet users have convincingly demonstrated this to the government this month by turning its website-blocking system against itself.

During President Vladimir Putin's third term, which began in 2012, Russia has significantly stepped up attempts to purge the internet of "extremist" views. But the Kremlin doesn't have an equivalent of China's "Great Firewall," which controls the internet through the gateways between the national segment and the rest of the global network. Instead, internet providers are required to block the sites on the blacklist of the regulator agency Roskomnadzor.