The Practice and Policy of Global Internet Filtering
Edited by Ronald J. Deibert, John G. Palfrey, Rafal Rohozinski and Jonathan Zittrain
Many countries around the world block or filter
Internet content, denying access to information--often
about politics,
but also relating to sexuality, culture, or religion--that they deem
too sensitive for ordinary citizens. Access Denied documents
and analyzes Internet filtering practices in over three dozen
countries, offering the first rigorously conducted study of an
accelerating trend.
Internet filtering takes place in over two dozens states worldwide
including many countries in Asia and the Middle East and North Africa.
Related Internet content control mechanisms are also in place in
Canada, the United States and a cluster of countries in Europe. Drawing
on a just-completed survey of global Internet filtering undertaken by
the OpenNet Initiative (a collaboration of the Berkman Center for
Internet and Society at Harvard Law School, the Citizen Lab at the
University of Toronto, the Oxford Internet Institute at Oxford
University, and the University of Cambridge) and relying on work by
regional experts and an extensive network of researchers, Access Denied
examines the political, legal, social, and cultural contexts of
Internet filtering in these states from a variety of perspectives.
Chapters discuss the mechanisms and politics of Internet filtering, the
strengths and limitations of the technology that powers it, the
relevance of international law, ethical considerations for corporations
that supply states with the tools for blocking and filtering, and the
implications of Internet filtering for activist communities that
increasingly rely on Internet technologies for communicating their
missions.
Reports on Internet content regulation in forty different countries
follow, with each country profile outlining the types of content
blocked by category and documenting key findings.
Contributors:
Ross Anderson, Malcolm Birdling, Ronald Deibert, Robert Faris,
Vesselina Haralampieva, Steven Murdoch, Helmi Noman, John Palfrey,
Rafal Rohozinski, Mary Rundle, Nart Villeneuve, Stephanie Wang, and
Jonathan Zittrain
Ronald Deibert is Associate Professor of Political Science and Director
of the Citizen Lab at the Munk Centre for Internet Studies, University
of Toronto.
John Palfrey is Executive Director of the Berkman Center for Internet
and Society and Clinical Professor of Law at Harvard Law School.
Rafal Rohozinski is a Research Fellow of the Cambridge Security Program
and Director of the Advanced Network Research Group at Cambridge
University.
Jonathan Zittrain is Professor of Internet Governance and Regulation at
Oxford University and Jack N. and Lillian R. Berkman Visiting Professor
for Entrepreneurial Legal Studies at Harvard Law School.
The OpenNet Initiative has just released the findings of its first
global study
of Internet filtering at St. Anneâs College at the
University of Oxford; the culmination of five years of work and the
first report of its kind. It was the first public conference on Internet filtering hosted by the ONI -- with major assistance from the staff of the Oxford Internet Institute.
In a talk yesterday at Harvard Law School's 