The Internet and State Control

A recent studdy realsed by Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, illustrates how two authoritarian regimes, China and Cuba, are maintaining control over the Internet's political impact through different combinations of reactive methods —restricting Internet access, filtering content, monitoring on-line behavior, or even prohibiting Internet use entirely— and proactive strategies —creating propaganda sites and encouraging content providers to be pro-regime.

These cases show that, contrary to assumptions, different types of authoritarian regimes may be able to control and profit from the Internet. Examining the experiences of these two countries may help to shed light on other authoritarian regimes' strategies for Internet development, as well as help to develop generalizable conclusions about the impact of the Internet on authoritarian rule.

More information: The Internet and State Control in Authoritarian Regimes: China, Cuba, and the Counterrevolution

Date of publication: 20/07/2001

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