Why Non-Democracies Censor The Internet

from the seems-fairly-obvious dept

First Monday has a fairly long and academic paper looking at why non-democratic countries like China and Cuba censor the internet. The answer can be summed up pretty quickly, and it's exactly what you probably thought: because they don't want people who oppose the government to actually discuss opposing points of view. However, the two countries have taken very different strategies in blocking out the internet, and the article discusses the reasons for that as well. In China, they know they need the internet to help boost the economy, which will keep people less concerned about the government, than if the economy was collapsing. In Cuba, while the economy is struggling, they simply continue to blame the US embargo - and aren't opening up internet access because they don't think it will make much of a difference in the economy, and how people view the government on economic issues.

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