The Berkman Center points out that the internet is not a public space. It is a private space that tolerates some public speech; but not all public speech.
Often there is no transparency in what content is removed and why and by whom.
This video explains how the internet is censored by governments and corporations :
this is just a misunderstanding of what the public sphere is.
When corporations voluntarily support government censorship we are not far from fascism. In this case, the fascism is about global corporate capitalism, not just about the NSA. The solution? It seems to me that the internet has to migrate to institutions (say, some international organization similar to the UN but less corrupt) or to countries (similar to tax refuges) that are not subject to the pressure of governments.This probably won’t happen unless consumers demand it by first migrating to other, non-monitored platforms. Here’s a start in that direction: http://prism-break.org
All I have to say is playing those error sounds was a dirty trick to hit me with in the morning…
It has always been naive of the cyberutopians and the Cult of Tech in Silicon Valley to preach that freedom is delivered via the internet. Digital technologies have presented the most power tools for authoritarians ever…and it is not just the web. My book goes into some detail about the digital power grab by the most powerful entities in the world, most of which are corporations.
link to amazon.com
Joseph, I like your take on the subject. A lot of people don’t look at things that way though