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Are Governments Denying Internet Access To Their Political Opponents? (technologyreview.com)

"Keeping your enemies offline can cripple their chances of overthrowing you," reports the MIT Technology Review. Slashdot reader schwit1 quotes their article: Whether or not your ethnic group has political power is a crucial factor determining your access to the Internet, according to a new analysis. The effect varies from country to country, and is much less pronounced in democratic nations. But the study, published today in Science, suggests that besides censorship, another way national governments prevent opposing groups from organizing online is by denying them Internet access in the first place, says Nils Weidmann, a professor of political science at the University of Konstanz in Germany.
Researchers used a geolocation database to create a map showing subnetwork activity for a large volume of internet traffic, then compared it with geographic data for the world's ethnic groups. "They concluded that excluded groups had significantly lower access compared to the groups in power, and that this can't be explained by other economic or geographic factors (like living in rural vs. urban areas)... 'You don't have to censor if the opposition doesn't get access at all.' "

12 of 149 comments (clear)

  1. Not like here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Here in America, the superior country, we would NEVER have the government censor the internet of opinions we don't like. Instead, we simply have our good buddies/donors Facebook and Twitter do it for us.

  2. Re:Not true at all by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    bullshit. some of the poorest people work their asses off and have nothing to show for it. look at mexican immigrant workers, they work harder than anyone in the fields and make very little money compared to the high paying cushy jobs where people sit on their asses and tell others what to do.

  3. Third world keeps on third worldin' by RightwingNutjob · · Score: 4, Insightful

    In other news...some of those same people don't have indoor plumbing or electricity...because racism and totally not because they're living in an underdeveloped country-only-on-paper where tribe and clan are the only institutions there are.

    1. Re:Third world keeps on third worldin' by RightwingNutjob · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The summary tells me that it's in vogue to spend time and energy manufacturing ethnic identities and grievances for chronic underachievers so that they can be used to attack political enemies rather than spending time and energy for the betterment of mankind.

  4. I know it's /. and all by rsilvergun · · Score: 4, Insightful

    But did you even read the summary?

    "They concluded that excluded groups had significantly lower access compared to the groups in power, and that this can't be explained by other economic or geographic factors (like living in rural vs. urban areas)..."

    Institutionalized racism is used by _all_ of humanity to segment the population so that the ruling class can maintain control. How the hell else is 1% of the population going to grab 60-90% of the wealth and get away with it?

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  5. This is Hillary's Agenda by knorthern+knight · · Score: 5, Insightful

    In "the good ole days before the internet", the MSM (Main Stream Media) controlled the news. The government needed a dozen people on their rolodex, and embarressing stories could be shut down. E.g. John F Kennedy was screwing women all over the place, and Bill Clinton would almost be a saint in comparison. But the MSM kept quiet, and it wasn't until much later that JFK's philandering became known.

    Bill Clinton realized by 1995, that the internet had the potential to democratize the news and bypass the gatekeepers. "Moreover, it allows an extraordinary amount of unregulated data and information to be located in one area and available to all," http://www.breitbart.com/big-j...

    In 1998, his worst fears came true. Clinton's MSM buddies at Newsweek spiked (i.e. killed) a bombshell of a story about Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky. But a lowly store clerk with a modem (i.e. Matt Drudge) published the story on his site. Hillary was whining about there not being any "gatekeepers" on the internet http://www.freerepublic.com/fo...

    Fast-forward to the current election campaign, and the Democrats are openly talking about shutting down the Breitbart website http://dailycaller.com/2016/08...

    Do you really want Hillary in charge?

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    1. Re:This is Hillary's Agenda by Desler · · Score: 3, Informative

      Your complaint is highly amusing since you ignore how Trump wants to abuse libel laws to shut down reporting he doesn't like.

      http://www.politico.com/blogs/...

      So, yes, if I have to choose I would pick Hillary over Herr Trump.

  6. What excuses tomorrow may bring by Okian+Warrior · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I've noticed that Hillary has a pattern of using the "most minimal" excuse that will get her by.

    She was in great health until she had a 4 minute 22 second coughing fit, then it's "I have been talking non-stop for weeks, but I'm OK now."

    She was fine until she had to leave the 9/11 memorial, then it's "I was feeling a little overheated, but I'm all right now".

    That worked until the video of her collapsing as she's put into a van, then it's "I have pneumonia, but it's all right".

    This tracks with other investigation into her actions, including the E-mail scandal:

    • . She didn’t send or receive any e-mails that were classified “at the time.”
    • . She didn’t send or receive any e-mails “marked classified” at the time.
    • . She turned over all of her work-related e-mails.
    • . Her use of a private server and e-mail domain was permitted by law and regulation.
    • . All of her e-mails were immediately captured by @.gov addresses.
    • . There were numerous safeguards against security breaches and “no evidence” of hacking.
    • . She was never served a subpoena on her e-mail use.

    ...all of which she has said, occasionally under oath.

    If the past is any prediction of the future, we'll have to wait a couple of months to find out if she was really sick or not.

  7. The health rumor catapult by Okian+Warrior · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Looking at the headlines over time of Hillary leaving the 9/11 event is pretty interesting.

    A couple of hours ago, it was "Hillary has pneumonia".
    Then it was "doctors diagnosed Hillary with pneumonia".
    Then it was "doctors diagnosed Hillary with pneumonia well before the 9/11 ceremony". (On Friday, apparently).
    Now it's Hillary Clinton's Doctor Says Pneumonia Led to Abrupt Exit From 9/11 Event.

    (If you've ever studied creative writing, note the slow creep away from active voice and into the passive. That last one doesn't even connect Hillary with pneumonia directly - to read the headline, you might think that she left to comfort someone *else* who has pneumonia.)

    As someone who's had pneumonia, I can well believe that she might faint after standing around for 90 minutes on a hot afternoon.

    As someone who tries to look beyond the headlines, it would seem that IF she was diagnosed on Friday it would have been better to announce it at that time. All this back-filling and back-pedaling after the fact makes it look like she's hiding something more serious.

    Here I was ready to denounce the Hillary health rumors as being unfounded, and this turns up.

    She put the issue of her health into a catapult and fired it into public view, all on her ownsome.

    1. Re: The health rumor catapult by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It's not about her health, it's her dishonesty in acknowledging it, and her bullying intimidation of anyone who refuses to accept her party line as gospel truth.

      The problem is, Trump being a blowhard doesn't make Hillary less of a mafia boss.

  8. Re:Don't know but Facebook and Twitter sure are by Alypius · · Score: 4, Informative
  9. Re:Libertarians by GLMDesigns · · Score: 3, Interesting

    You realize that free-market people are against corporatism (what used to be called mercantilism). If you have any doubts - read von Mises, Hayek, Milton Friedman and, of course, Ayn Rand. Her greatest villains were corporatists.

    So, no, stop believing what was spoon fed to you. And read them for yourselves. If I could read, Hegel, Marx, Lenin, and underdevelopment theorists you can read von Mises and listen to a few Milton Friedman youtube videos.

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