Communications of the ACM
How Russia's Online Censorship Could Jeopardize Internet Freedom Worldwide
Russia's Internet censorship laws have troubling implications for online freedom in countries that share its decentralized network structure, according to researchers at the University of Michigan.
Credit: news.umich.edu
Researchers at the University of Michigan (U-M) have found that Russia's Internet censorship laws have troubling implications for online freedom in the U.S. and other countries that share its decentralized network structure.
Following the implementation of a sweeping censorship law called Sovereign RUnet, the researchers say their findings are especially worrisome in the U.S., where the erosion of net neutrality has given Internet service providers the ability to monitor and shape Internet traffic.
The researchers analyzed seven years of data collected from a combination of automated monitors and in-country activists.
The study demonstrates how Russia was able to impose tight censorship over its decentralized infrastructure, which includes more than 1,000 privately owned Internet service providers.
Said U-M researcher Roya Ensafi, "Russia's rise to prominence as a censor is a wake-up call for censorship researchers, journalists, activists and citizens of the global Internet."
From University of Michigan
Abstracts Copyright © 2019 SmithBucklin, Washington, DC, USA
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