Internet companies are conduits through which states can exercise their authority beyond their borders. As Chinese companies such as Huawei become more commercially dominant, they threaten the geopolitical power of the US.
News and Research articles on China
Facing fragmentation of digital space in the Snowden aftermath, this article considers regulatory models available to avoid the balkanisation of the internet.
The internet is a forum for geopolitical struggle as states wield power beyond their terrestrial territorial borders through the extraterritorial geographies of data flows. This exertion of power across multiple jurisdictions, and via the infrastructure of transnational technology companies, creates new challenges for traditional forms of regulatory governance and the protection of human rights.
This paper examines data and privacy governance by four China-based mobile applications and their international versions - including the role of the state. It also highlights the role of platforms in gatekeeping mobile app privacy standards.
Why did China’s Alibaba platform reform its enforcement practices in line with demands from the US government and US companies?
What are the informal arrangements governing online content on platforms in Europe, and what are the factors that make them more or less successful?
This op-ed explores the malleable nature of power and authority in internet and blockchain technologies.
This paper analyses social media blocking in Brazil, as a consequence of "regulatory disruption".
This paper examines three historical imaginaries associated with encryption, considering how they are intertwined in contemporary policy debates.
In recent years, a myriad of “defensive measures” were implemented by Russia to tighten state control over the internet. Recent laws passed by the State Duma are likely to bring Russia's internet under firm government control.
Papers in this special issue Introducing Australian internet policy: problems and prospects Angela Daly, Queensland University of Technology, Australia Julian Thomas, RMIT University, Australia The passage of Australia’s data retention regime: national security, human rights, and media scrutiny Nicolas Suzor, Queensland University of Technology, Australia Kylie Pappalardo, Queensland University of Technology, Australia Natalie McIntosh, Queensland University of Technology, Australia Computer network operations and ‘rule-with-law’ in Australia Adam Molnar, Deakin University, Australia Christopher Parsons, Citizen Lab, Canada Erik Zouave, KU Leuven, Belgium Internet accessibility and …
Despite criticism, this charter "is unique in reaching out to engage with much broader audiences than any other digital charter did before," say digital policy advisers von Weizsäcker and Schräpel.
The Russian 'dictatorship-of-the-law' paradigm is all but over: it is deploying online, with potentially harmful consequences for Russia's attempts to attract foreign investments in the internet sector, and for users' rights online.
A committee of the Council of Europe released a report on mass surveillance on 26 January 2015. Some of its recommendations are expected to influence the debate heavily.
The Global Open Data Index 2014 is out. The progress made is not in tune with the rhetoric, reports Monika Ermert.
There might be a good argument and even a sound business proposal for the Brazil-EU link, but it's not what you think it is.
Cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin are often seen as a threat by governmental and financial institutions worldwide. Regulation could help minimise the risks involved. The author explores some legal and self-regulatory precedents from which we can learn.
In an ambitious move, the Brazilian government, technical and civil society organised a meeting to address key issues of internet governance. While not everybody was happy with the final result, process-wise it was a landmark meeting.
The dominant narrative about the governance of the internet in media and with high-level policymakers is misleading. Researchers Francesca Musiani and Julia Pohle explain what stands in the way of genuine multistakeholder internet governance as all eyes are turning towards Brazil and its NETmundial meeting.
Cloud-based information intermediaries curate information and distribute in a way that fundamentally challenges the right of access to information.