FC: Internet helps brutal governments retain control, paper says

[Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>]

Direct link to paper:
http://www.ceip.org/files/Publications/wp21.asp

*********

From: "Julie Shaw" <jshaw@ceip.org>
Subject: China,Cuba,Internet Counterrevolution
Date: Tue, 17 Jul 2001 13:13:38 -0700


China, Cuba, and the Internet Counterrevolution
New Working Paper Challenges Assumption that the
Internet Defies Authoritarian Control

A new Carnegie Endowment working paper finds that, contrary to conventional 
wisdom, the Internet does not necessarily spell the demise of authoritarian 
rule. Examining the cases of China and Cuba, Shanthi Kalathil and Taylor C. 
Boas, two Carnegie information revolution experts, show that authoritarian 
regimes can actually maintain control over the Internet s political impact 
and benefit from the technology. Read the full text at: 
<http://www.ceip.org/pubs>http://www.ceip.org/<http://www.ceip.org/pubs>pubs

The Internet and State Control in Authoritarian Regimes:
China, Cuba, and the Counterrevolution
Working Paper No. 21, by Shanthi Kalathil and Taylor C. Boas

Cuba and China represent two extremes of authoritarian Internet control: 
Cuba has sought to limit the medium s political effects by carefully 
circumscribing access to the Internet, while China has promoted widespread 
access and relied on content filtering, monitoring, deterrence, and 
self-censorship. These choices of strategy reflect a more fundamental 
difference between the two regimes levels of economic liberalization. China 
has promoted widespread Internet access to capitalize on the economic 
potential of a booming information sector and technologically savvy 
workforce, while Cuba, less committed to a market economy, has been willing 
to forgo some of the Internet s potential economic benefits.

Kalathil and Boas show that China and Cuba, despite their strategy 
differences, have effectively limited use of the Internet to challenge the 
government. Beijing, for instance, has responded harshly to the Falun Gong 
s use of the Internet with a series of technological measures, restrictive 
laws, and well-publicized crackdowns, making it more difficult for 
followers to communicate. Havana has carefully meted out access among civil 
society organizations according to their political orientation while 
dissident and human rights organizations have little hope of even gaining 
access. Both governments have also been successful in making extensive use 
of the Internet as a propaganda tool, partly by setting up their own web 
sites to disseminate the official government line.

In a field where scholarly work has only begun to tread, this working paper 
sets out a framework for analyzing the Internet strategies of different 
authoritarian regimes, and helps to shed light on the impact of the 
Internet on authoritarian rule in general.

Shanthi Kalathil, associate in the Information Revolution and World 
Politics Project at the Carnegie Endowment, has written extensively on 
Chinese market reforms and the political impact of the information revolution.

Taylor C. Boas, project associate in the Information Revolution and World 
Politics Project, has published several articles on the impact of the 
Internet in authoritarian regimes, with particular emphasis on Cuba.
###




-------------------------------------------------------------------------
POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list
You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice.
To subscribe, visit http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html
This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------