[FYI] (Fwd) FC: Internet helps brutal governments retain control, pa

["Axel H Horns" <horns@ipjur.com>]

------- Forwarded message follows -------
Date sent:      	Wed, 18 Jul 2001 09:46:06 -0700
To:             	politech@politechbot.com
From:           	Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>
Subject:        	FC: Internet helps brutal governments retain control, paper says
Copies to:      	jshaw@ceip.org, skalathil@ceip.org, tboas@ceip.org
Send reply to:  	declan@well.com

Direct link to paper:
http://www.ceip.org/files/Publications/wp21.asp

*********

From: "Julie Shaw" <jshaw@ceip.org>
Subject: China,Cuba,Internet Counterrevolution
Date: Tue, 17 Jul 2001 13:13:38 -0700


China, Cuba, and the Internet Counterrevolution
New Working Paper Challenges Assumption that the
Internet Defies Authoritarian Control

A new Carnegie Endowment working paper finds that, contrary to
conventional wisdom, the Internet does not necessarily spell the
demise of authoritarian rule. Examining the cases of China and Cuba,
Shanthi Kalathil and Taylor C. Boas, two Carnegie information
revolution experts, show that authoritarian regimes can actually
maintain control over the Internet s political impact and benefit from
the technology. Read the full text at:
<http://www.ceip.org/pubs>http://www.ceip.org/<http://www.ceip.org/pub
s>pubs

The Internet and State Control in Authoritarian Regimes:
China, Cuba, and the Counterrevolution
Working Paper No. 21, by Shanthi Kalathil and Taylor C. Boas

Cuba and China represent two extremes of authoritarian Internet
control: Cuba has sought to limit the medium s political effects by
carefully circumscribing access to the Internet, while China has
promoted widespread access and relied on content filtering,
monitoring, deterrence, and self-censorship. These choices of strategy
reflect a more fundamental difference between the two regimes levels
of economic liberalization. China has promoted widespread Internet
access to capitalize on the economic potential of a booming
information sector and technologically savvy workforce, while Cuba,
less committed to a market economy, has been willing to forgo some of
the Internet s potential economic benefits.

Kalathil and Boas show that China and Cuba, despite their strategy
differences, have effectively limited use of the Internet to challenge
the government. Beijing, for instance, has responded harshly to the
Falun Gong s use of the Internet with a series of technological
measures, restrictive laws, and well-publicized crackdowns, making it
more difficult for followers to communicate. Havana has carefully
meted out access among civil society organizations according to their
political orientation while dissident and human rights organizations
have little hope of even gaining access. Both governments have also
been successful in making extensive use of the Internet as a
propaganda tool, partly by setting up their own web sites to
disseminate the official government line.

In a field where scholarly work has only begun to tread, this working
paper sets out a framework for analyzing the Internet strategies of
different authoritarian regimes, and helps to shed light on the impact
of the Internet on authoritarian rule in general.

Shanthi Kalathil, associate in the Information Revolution and World
Politics Project at the Carnegie Endowment, has written extensively on
Chinese market reforms and the political impact of the information
revolution.

Taylor C. Boas, project associate in the Information Revolution and
World Politics Project, has published several articles on the impact
of the Internet in authoritarian regimes, with particular emphasis on
Cuba. ###




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