/ Unsplash / Kelly Sikkema
The most “closed” countries
One of the most closed countries in terms of Internet users is China. The population’s access to Internet resources is controlled by the Great Chinese Firewall. The system not only blocks the set IP, but analyzes sites for the presence of keywords from the "black list". If forbidden phrases are detected, the firewall resets the connection. According to data for September 2019, more than 10 thousand resources are blocked in China.
Another closed country in Asia is North Korea. Only party figures, foreign missions and some scientific and technical organizations, such as the Korean Computer Center, go online. The remaining residents of the country work with the resources of the internal network, the content of which is strictly regulated .
One can only guess what the “North Korean Internet” looks like. However, three years ago, a list of domains with externally accessible resources leaked into the network — for example, an airport site , a culinary portal, and an analogue of MSN .
Also, the four countries with seriously regulated Internet space include the Middle East countries - Saudi Arabia and Iran. In particular, many popular sites are not available in Iran, and the government is preparing to launch a national intranet .
Who blocks social networks and why
The only country whose population is completely isolated from all social networks (with the exception of some high-ranking officials) is North Korea. Other countries approach this issue less aggressively. According to last year’s report by Freedom House analysts, 26 of the 65 people surveyed have limited access to social media. For example, Facebook and Twitter are blocked in China. Such a policy is related to the government’s desire to promote Chinese IT products - for example, Weibo microblogging and Qzone social network.
Access to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube is periodically limited in Turkey - “sanctions” were imposed in 2014 and 2015 . The last lock occurred last week .
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Also, social networks "closed" during the elections in Congo, Chad and Uganda. In 2017, some areas of Cameroon were left without Twitter, Whatsapp and Facebook. The same services, plus Instagram and Viber, were blocked in Ethiopia during student exams.
How are things with messengers
A number of countries restrict access to voice and video communications, while others completely ban popular instant messengers on their territory. For example, in Cuba, Skype was blocked for some reason, but access to Whatsapp and other instant messengers remained. Voice messages in Viber and WhatsApp do not work in Egypt.
/ Unsplash / Benjamin Sow
Perhaps the most discussed topic in this area is the ban on end-to-end encryption. A number of countries are working on bills that will oblige messenger developers to provide decrypted data at the request of law enforcement agencies. For example, last year such a law was passed in Australia. Discussions are also taking place in the UK and the USA . In the European Parliament, they advocate the introduction of end-to-end encryption in all services. According to politicians, this will improve the security of personal data of Internet users.
Other prohibitions and restrictions
At the beginning of the year, the Japan Cultural Affairs Agency proposed a bill prohibiting citizens of the country from downloading any files from the network that they do not have the right to use. The list includes computer games, photographs, films, software, as well as texts. The punishment for misconduct is a fine of two million yen (approximately 25 thousand dollars) or a prison term. And although the project was frozen in its current form because it did not find public support, work on it will continue in the near future.
Some states take content blocking more radically. They not only prohibit downloading and viewing any materials, but “turn off the Internet”. For example, the relevant law is passed in India. It allows the Ministry of the Interior to restrict network access at the country or individual state level. Since the beginning of 2017, 20 outages have already been made in different areas. 2G, 3G, 4G, CDMA and GPRS were disabled in the states of Kashmir, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, as well as Haryana and Punjab.
Laws similar to the Indian one are in force in China, Ethiopia, Iraq and other countries. Not all of them have blockages, but the infrastructure and laws that block access to the network and restrict the downloading of content are available in many countries.
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