China and Russia already does this. Very few other nations have reason to, but if they want to pick between American, Chinese, or domestic websites they are free to do so and I'm confident the vast majority will pick American.
China kind of already does. Close off a lot of foreign major competitors, block objectionable sites, have domestic ones replace them which tie into the government.
I'm sure that if the US had as strict control over our/their internet as China does over theirs, non-US sites would be forced to operate differently for peers in the US too.
It will happen whether you build your website to be accessible there or not. They already cloned all the major sites used in the US and as soon as the Chinese version was off the ground the government blocked out all the foreign competitors.
I'd be ok with it. In fact, I'm ok with China blocking our sites. Perfectly fine with me. China uses their sites to try to undermine the US. (And vice-versa I'm sure.)
China is way ahead of the game... that's for sure. There's no arguing that.
But the rest of the world is pretty dependent on the US when it comes to the internet. This include the EU and Russia. And this is not something that is trivial to change.
I am not saying that it WON'T change... I'm saying that for the rest of the world to create a China-like internet for their citizens may be desirable, but it won't be easy.
I mean... if I was Brazilian, I would much rather the Brazilian Government watched my internet usage than to have the American Government do so. Because the American Government can put you on a No-Fly list and you have no recourse. (ie - no rights in US Courts). Consequently, you have no easy way off of that list.
So I understand the desire... I just think it will be more difficult than flipping a switch.
China de-risking from US controlled internet is really ambitious - if they pull it off, it might become the only country that achieves digital sovereignty. I expect Russia, Iran and other designated enemies of the US to try and follow suit but no other has the domestic market size to pull it off. Whatever, we think of the geopolitics, it's a fascinating experiment
I'm not so sure that countries will be all that enthused to follow China's example. Aside from the technical and infrastructure costs, it's evident that they're using a huge amount of human manpower. A lot of countries don't have the knowhow or billions to do it.
At this point, I suspect the lesson will be to block all sites except those that force people to use their real names, and arrest them if they say something unapproved. Intimidation is pretty cheap.
On the other hand, astonishing reading the blog post:
"First, China is proposing "to give countries authority over the information and communication infrastructure within their state" and require that online companies "operating in their territory" use the Internet "in a rational way"- in short, to legitimize full government control."
It's ok if the US censors sites and takes down websites by changing DNS data, but it's not not ok for other countries - and I do not express any opinion about China in this - to request this to do?
I feel like you're being disingenuous. Just because China does something doesn't mean it's a bad idea, it's certainly in line with their economic interests. I think Americans are very aware of what a treacherous situation you put yourself in when you depend on people ideologically opposite to yourself (e.g: oil and manufacturing).
But to be clear I'm not advocating for the Chinese model. I think each country should have their own software platforms to preserve their sovereignty and the interests of their citizens but I think they should be regulated to follow common standards to preserve the openness of the internet.
That is an interesting thought but China complicates things since a good chunck of new internet users are Chinese but Google and Facebook are blocked there.
just kidding. china and russia actively block american sites because of this, but manchurian candidates seem eager to defend them and blame the US when we suggest the same.
China and Russia have already effectively seceded from the 'open internet'. Those governments have firewalls and killswitches set up in such a way that they can censor whatever they want.
If they wish to reap the benefits of the open internet, it's only fair they face consequences when they abuse their power.
That's what happens when you are on someone else's web. So far, China is the only one deciding they are unhappy enough with the arrangement to build their own web, but the option exists for any country, or even non-geographically-bound organization if you are willing to tolerate shitty satellite connections.
This is such a bad idea. China? Russia? Those two countries should have a say in running the Internet proportional to their citizens' right to free speech. So China would have no say whatsoever and Russia's voice would only be marginal.
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