Abstract

This paper provides a brief review of the government censorship over internet, which is turning into a national dilemma as well as the cross-national conflict which affect the global businesses. Nowadays, internet censorship is widely accepted standard regulation that controls any information available on the internet and by using filtering tools to prevent people from accessing materials that are considered to be inappropriate. While government support the use of internet censorship as a protection of public security and defines the ‘inappropriate material’ to determine what people can view on the internet, others argue that it is simply a tool to take away people from their own right to express freedom of speech and make people blindly accept what they can access on the internet. The paper also addresses the growing problem of cross-national conflict by giving the practice of multinational company Google and addressing the issues of the value system between Chinese and US government. The paper concludes that as the rapid growth of internet technology and international businesses, it has become more difficult to achieve both control of information and the benefits of technology, and there is a need for balance between these two factors.
Table of Contents

Abstract I
Table of Contents II
1. Introduction １
2. The nature of internet development and censorship ２
2.1The history and nature of internet development ２
2.2 Methods of internet control ２
2.2.1 Internet filtering technology ３
2.2.2 Internet regulation ３
3. Different views on internet censorship ４
3.1 Public security vs. Political view ４
3.2 Cultural and religious view ５
4. Cross-national information conflict ５
4.1 The nature of cross-national conflict and problems ５
5. Conclusions ６
References ８
Appendix ９

1. Introduction

The internet is considered to be the most important technology available today. As internet activity expands worldwide, most countries around the world recognize that internet censorship is necessary for the protection of people and even public security. Internet censorship can be defined as the control of the publishing or accessing of information on the internet (Hamade 2008; Liang & Lu 2010). For example, censorship occurs when the particular audiences are restricted to access online information, based on their characteristics. In order to restrict internet access, a government may use internet filtering technologies and regulations and at the same time the censorship benefits the life of people and individual nations (Simpson 2008).

In the modern information age, most people see the internet as a double-edged sword (Liang & Lu 2010). As new purpose for using the internet rapidly emerge, internet technology has become an important tool not only for research and communication but also necessary for individual nations to stay competitive and to promote development (Edwards 2010; Hamade 2008). On the other hand, with this internet development comes the rapid spread of human vices by providing access to inappropriate materials. For instance, nations like Australia, China and UK that wish to control the exchange of information and the desire to advance technologically is tempered by the desire to maintain censorship powers (Simpson 2008; Edwards 2010). As a result, many different reasons such as public security, religious and social, and international cooperation issues have raised different views from the government in internet censorship. Moreover, globalization and the rapid growth of internet based businesses add another layer of complexity and controversies to this issue by creating a new type of conflict which can be stated as a cross-national conflict (Zheng 2007). This new conflict constitutes a huge dilemma that neither technology nor censorship could stand without each considering the other (Ang & Nadarajan 1996).

The purpose of this review is to examine the censorship of the internet from a global perspective and to explore the nature of cross-national conflict regarding access to information. Chapter two presents the nature of the internet and the various methods to control internet. Chapter three addresses the different views of internet censorship from the various groups in different countries. Chapter four discuses the nature of cross-national conflict and the insight of its problems by giving the example of Google in China.

2. The nature of internet development and censorship

In the development of internet technology, many issues have emerged regarding the method of internet control. This nature of internet development and the various technologies to control over the internet will be explained in this section.

2.1The history and nature of internet development

The internet is an international technology with no limitations and centralized control over the online information. The Internet has developed and evolved rapidly over the last few years. Fifteen years ago, many countries around the world were neither interested to the Internet nor aware of the existence of the term, however the internet is now mentioned almost daily through the variety of media (Liang & Lu 2010). The history of the internet began in the late 1960s when the U.S. Defense Department authorized the Advanced Research Project Agency (ARPA) to develop computer network to avoid a nuclear threat. Because of its characteristic as a decentralized structure of computer communication developed to only survive from nuclear attack, the internet is not an entity capable of being controlled by any one organization. As such, problems arise when governments search for controlling access to information believed to be undesirable. Any computer connected to the internet is linked with a huge global internet network and also is be able to communicate with anyone who is connected. In fact, the most innovative technique of the internet is the ability to establish international communication through the use of its network (Sharp 2009). Yet, this internet may also become a dangerous technology to mankind by providing access to information that is considered unsafe or inappropriate (Hamade 2008). Although a government may control the use of internet within one country’s or territory, an individual from another country may not be controlled from making the information available on the internet where it can be viewed by almost every user in the world. Therefore, as the nature of internet gets more complex, people will be definitely benefitted by using its advanced technology but they may also have to face bigger online threats from it.

2.2 Methods of internet control

The internet brings freedom and happiness to people, but at the same time, it result in a lot of viruses, pornography, violence, and cyber crimes. To effectively filter out junk information, various filtering technologies and related regulations have emerged.

2.2.1 Internet filtering technology

There are three technical approaches which are adopted by governments to control the internet use and the access to online information. The definition of technical approaches such as keyword filtering, domain blocking, and firewall are that preventing internet users from accessing information that are measured offensive and inappropriate (Edward 2010). Domain blocking and keywords filtering are the most effective and commonly used methods in internet censorship. Keywords filtering that some sensitive words found in the websites or URL(Uniform Resource Location) is not permitted to access. Similarly, domain blocking is by using advanced technologies, to block people from visiting inappropriate websites which may contain illegal contents. The application of filtering is not internationally standardized. For example, the governments of different countries such as those China, Singapore, and Thailand determine what kind of websites people should not be allowed to access and then arrange for those websites to be blocked by applying ISP level filtering (Liang & Lu 2010). Different governments have different reasons for using technical approaches to control the internet. Protecting public security and socially accepted standards of decency are frequently pointed out as the main goals (Hamade 2008; Liang & Lu 2010). However, there are growing concerns towards these technical filtering as a type of censorship preventing people from their right of free access to information (Edward 2010). Although, internet filtering technology seems to work properly in order to protect people from internet but there are significant transparency and freedom of speech issues raised by the deployment of filtering technology that still needs to be discussed.

2.2.2 Internet regulation

Beside the technology methods, the government also enacts regulations and policies for both individuals and multinational companies. The regulation from many countries over internet use and development has significantly grown and become more wide-ranging over time Many countries have gone a step further in their regulation of the internet, encompassing a wide variety of subjects in its definition of “undesirable content” (Simpson 2008). For example, the governments of China, Syria, and Iran determine what kind of websites people can access on the internet and then arrange for those websites to be blocked or permanently banned from online. There are two groups with different view and issues associated with internet regulation. They argue that internet regulation can be both beneficial and harmless. Hamade (2008) claims that all people have the right to access information, to have freedom of opinion and expression. However, Liang and Lu (2010) argue that certain materials are so offensive to society that they simply must not be available. Thus, internet regulation is a problematic and complex area as there are both reasonable arguments for and against the use of government regulation on internet.

3. Different views on internet censorship

Many countries have their own superior goals for its use of the internet. some governments believe that censorship can improve society, protect people, and bring back what the censor sees as lost moral values (Hamade 2008). At the same time, however, the government supports the internet development and encourages people’s freedom to access any materials on the internet. As a result, there are several different views from the government in internet censorship such as Public security and national defense, Cultural and Religious views, which will be explained in this section.

3.1 Public security vs. Political view

In most governments around the world believes that censorship can ensure the public safety, improve the life of society and especially, protect children from dangerous materials. The government is allowed to enforce secrecy of some information include any that could be considered vital to public security, such as pornography, gambling, alcohol, drugs, and terror sites (Hamade 2008; Zheng 2007). For instance, many countries in Middle East and East Asia choose the web sites to be blocked which are based on public security concerns about morality, however some other countries uses the censorship to keep the current government in power or internal political purposes. Moreover, Syria and the United Arab Emirates ban access to all websites within the Israeli domain and Morocco also block any web pages or online sources arguing for the independence of Western Sahara. While some groups criticize the governments for having double standards of internet censorship, others believe that any kinds of government censorship are primarily designed to protect public security (Hamade 2008). Some countries use filtering software to block access to any political webpage that is considered misuse of censorship. The problem in this is that government decides and controls the value of right and wrong information without fully opening them to the public that people blindly accept what they can access on the internet. Therefore, it is a complex and controversy problem that keeping a balance between the level of censorship and the freedom of speech regarding access to information on the internet which needs to be more carefully considered.

3.2 Cultural and Religious view

There are other groups that have raised different views from the government in internet censorship. Cultural and religious views may also impact upon what information is considered inappropriate at a national level (Simpson 2008). For example, Middle Eastern countries such as China, DPK, and the Golf states ban access to any materials related to homosexuality, dating, and pornography. Some of these countries also block or filter any webpage which contains any topics considered sensitive or forbidden under Islam or culturally inappropriate such as gambling, drugs, and alcohol, as well as erotic contents. However, the countries with the strong censorship on the internet, sometimes misjudges and blocks the websites which has no features of nudity or nothing relates to the cyber crime (Hamade 2008). As there is no clear solution for this matter, no one can confidently disagree to the censorship of pornography, gambling, hate, and violence on the internet, many groups warn against expanding the use of censorship technology to dominate people and prevent them from accessing freely to online information as part of their intellectual freedom.

4. Cross-national information conflict

The cross-national information conflict appears more complex and controversial then conflicts within one nation. This nature of cross-national conflict and the insight of its problems with the various examples will be explained in this section.

4.1 The nature of cross-national conflict and problems

As the internet technology has made the world smaller, the cross-national information conflict has become the major concern when dealing with cross-border issues. There is a belief among the international community that conflict among values was a cause of concern. However, the rapid growth of internet based businesses and globalization has created a new type of conflict which can be stated as a cross-national conflict (Zheng 2007). Cross-national information conflict constitutes a dilemma that not only the political, cultural and religious groups but also multinational cooperation has to face. An example of cross-national conflict is evident in the case of Google in China. According to recent debates around the American internet company, Google provide a clear and classic example of cross-national conflict. In 2001, Google introduced its Chinese-language web-based search service but suddenly around 2002, the service within China was denied by Chinese government. The possible reason is that Google search results can bring the information that the government has no interest to open to the public. In 2006, Google launched google.cn with Chinese version of search engine, which is self-censored so that the service can be more reliable and accessible in China. Since the Chinese version of search service is introduced, the company is criticized by many groups for collaborating with the Chinese government to control and censor the internet and raised huge public concern regarding free access to information. It is clear that Google actually took a realistic approach in order to survival in business but they also have taken efforts to maintain a balance between the two countries. However, it is still unclear which value system the company should follow, the value system of its home country or the value system of the country where it runs its business.

5. Conclusions

To conclude, the main goal of censorship is protecting public security and socially accepted standards of propriety and by using various filtering methods and introducing regulation to control over the internet. However, even though many countries around the world have the most advanced filtering software and the reasonable regulations, it is evident that the significant growth of internet, not only regulating the internet became more difficult but also raised different views from the government in internet censorship. On one hand, many people still believe that censorship is used for giving more powers to the current government and it is also hard to define what is deemed inappropriate from cultural and religious points of view. On the other hand, government recognized correctly that the online space demands high risks to the public. Moreover, the controversial issues of censorship also appear among nations when dealing the cross-national issues, especially in business as the example of Google in China has shown. Google have found the way to create a balance between the two countries, however, issues surrounding the value system still remain unanswered.

This paper clearly states that every government around the world is trying to both control online information and yet gain the benefits of information technology. However, based on the academic papers which are reviewed in this paper it is suggested that because the nature of the issues are complex and complicated, it is a difficult task to measure how censorship needs to be dealt with. Consequently, the more controversial and fundamental questions pertaining to internet freedom still need to be considered and discussed in further.