JINFAN SU &WEIQI WANG

At this stage, the content of Internet governance is more extensive and complex, and it requires the participation of multiple stakeholders to work together to solve the problems brought about by the development of the Internet.

The Internet has profoundly changed human society and profoundly affected global politics, economy, culture, security, military and other fields. Because of the Internet, what happens in every corner of the world is just like happening in people’s side, and people are more closely connected with each other, their mutual influence is deepened, and there are more and more issues of common concern. With the development of technology, how to govern the Internet has aroused global attention and become a global issue. This paper will focus on the development process of the Internet in different countries.

1.European Union:

The European Union has enacted the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to strengthen the protection of user privacy. Under this regulation, social media companies are required to handle user data more transparently.

The European Union is considering measures to deal with illegal content on social networks, especially terrorist videos. Any social networking platform that fails to remove terrorist content within an hour will face stiff fines.

Meanwhile, the EU has also published the Rules for the Protection of Public Information (GDPR), which sets out regulations that all social media companies must follow when it comes to storing and using public information.

But another rule has online companies worried.

Section 13 in the copyright legislation requires social media platforms to ensure that there is no copyright-infringing content on their platforms.

Previous legislation only required social media sites to remove content that was noted to be infringing, and now the pressure is on for web companies to be held accountable for copyright infringing content.

“YouTube” by clasesdeperiodismo is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

In addition, some European countries have taken steps to require social media companies to remove false information and hate speech.

2.China:

China has adopted extensive Internet censorship and surveillance measures, known as the “Chinese Firewall” or “Great Firewall”. This includes blocking and censoring specific websites and social media platforms.

The Chinese government requires social media platforms to store user data and cooperate in content censorship to ensure that content meets national standards.

“Great Firewall of China” by chidorian is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

3.Russia:

Russia has adopted a “data localization law” that requires social media companies to store user data on servers in Russia to tighten control over the data.

The Russian government has also blocked social media platforms in some cases to discourage protests and political discord.

“GDPR & ePrivacy Regulations” by dennis_convert is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Development process

Looking back, the development of the Internet roughly went through three stages. The first phase, from the early 1970s to the mid-1980s, was dominated by Internet technology pioneers.

Complexity of Internet governance

It is necessary to fully understand the global, complex and dynamic nature of Internet governance. First, the development of the Internet covers many aspects, such as technology, culture, law and politics. Accordingly, the issues of Internet governance are more complex. Second, the development and application of cloud computing, big data, blockchain, artificial intelligence and other technologies, as well as the mobility, socialization, integration, and platformization of Internet business, have all profoundly affected the development and change of Internet governance. It is often the case that old problems have not been properly solved, and new problems arise one after another. Third, different entities involved in Internet governance have different demands, which also leads to the complexity of Internet governance. Fourth, the globalization and complexity of Internet problems such as viruses, spam, hacker attacks, and online fraud make it far from sufficient to rely on one country or party alone. Therefore, it is a rational choice for mankind to deal with the Internet issue by discussing global rules for Internet governance and cooperating for common governance.

References

Groenewald, A. (2019, March 5). These Countries Have Outlawed Social Media. CyberGhost Privacy Hub. https://www.cyberghostvpn.com/en_US/privacyhub/countries-ban-social-media/

O’Hara, K., & Hall, W. (2018, December 7). Four Internets: The Geopolitics of Digital Governance. Centre for International Governance Innovation. https://www.cigionline.org/publications/four-internets-geopolitics-digital-governance/

What Countries Ban Social Media and Why | VeePN Blog. (2022, July 7). Veepn.com. https://veepn.com/blog/ban-social-media/