Digital Authoritarianism Is Rising. Here’s What That Means
Edd Gent
https://singularityhub.com/2018/11/23/digital-authoritarianism-is-rising-heres-what-that-means/#sm.0000mks0vqvoffrcste2qy2yvbekw
The internet has long been touted as a force for freedom that can topple
dictatorships
around the world. But according to a new report on digital freedom,
authoritarian
forces are clawing back control and even re-purposing the web in ways that
undermine
democracy.
Back in 2010, the Arab Spring was seen as definitive proof of the internet’s
anarchic
capacity to spread free speech and self-determination to one of the most
repressive
corners of the world. But less than a decade later, most gains have been
reversed.
The 2016 US election demonstrated that social networks at that movement’s heart
can
be just as easily used to undermine democracy as promote it.
This is the eighth year in a row that
global digital freedom
has declined, according to think tank Freedom House’s annual
Freedom on the Net report
. The report covered 65 countries that represent 87 percent of the world’s
internet
users; while the study found improvements in 19 countries, it also found that
26
countries took a step backwards.
The US was counted as one of the declining countries after the repeal of net
neutrality
rules, which ensure all internet traffic is treated equally, and reauthorization
of the FISA Amendments Act, which permits the government to carry out widespread
digital surveillance. But the most worrying trends identified in the report are
the
broadening efforts to monitor and manipulate public opinion online, and the
increasing
use of the specter of fake news as an excuse to stifle dissent.
Researchers found that at least 17 countries approved or proposed laws to fight
fake
news and manipulation of social media. While these are both serious problems,
the
report notes that the regulation to fight these ills has been used by
authoritarian
governments to undermine legitimate criticism.
The report also found that in 32 countries, bots, trolls, or pro-government
commentators
were themselves implicated in manipulation of online discussions on social media
platforms like Facebook and Twitter, as well as messaging apps like WhatsApp.
These services are increasingly being disrupted by governments, too, both for
political
reasons and to halt the circulation of false rumors and propaganda used to stir
up
tensions between groups. In 22 countries, at least one communication platform
was
blocked, while 13 governments deliberately disrupted the internet or mobile
networks.
In particular, the report singles out China, to whom it gives the lowest
internet
freedom score. China is accused of exporting its homespun brand of “digital
authoritarianism”
that combines widespread automated surveillance and data collection with strict
censorship.
Officials from 35 of the 65 countries included attended training or seminars on
their
country’s “information management” techniques last year, according to the
report,
and China was also found to have supplied surveillance equipment to a host of
governments
with poor human rights records.
The report found that China was using its massive
Belt and Road infrastructure project
, which aims to link Asia, Europe, and Africa, to promote its attempt to control
cyberspace. Former Google CEO
Eric Schmidt recently suggested
this trend is likely to lead to the internet splitting in two—with one half
controlled
by the US and the other half by China.
China wasn’t the only country guilty of snooping on its citizens, though. Since
June
2017, state surveillance has increased in 18 countries, and has often been
combined
with efforts to weaken encryption in order to give government easier access to
citizens’
data. One notable exception was the EU, where the
General Data Protection Regulation
instituted stringent new data protection laws which have become a template for
proposals
in several other countries.
The Freedom House report urges western governments and tech companies to take a
more
proactive approach to preventing online manipulation and protecting users’
privacy.
It concludes with the ominous warning, “Securing internet freedom against the
rise
of digital authoritarianism is fundamental to protecting democracy…” But it’s
worth
remembering that the fading dream of the internet as a force for freedom is not
failing
solely due to the deliberate efforts of demagogues.
The tendency to become polarized and create echo chambers is increasingly
accepted
as an intrinsic feature of the way information percolates through the web. And
while
the ability to bypass gatekeepers like the traditional media can democratize
information
and make speech more free, it also weakens important quality control and
fact-checking
functions.
This has led to
a “Post-Truth” era
that authoritarian forces have been quick to capitalize on to erode trust in
democratic
norms and institutions. Reversing the eight-year trend of declining freedom will
require more than simply challenging those forces; we’ll need to tackle some
fundamental
problems at the heart of how the internet operates.
