Search

As states have begun regulating the carriage of speech by "Big Tech" internet platforms, scholars, advocates, and policymakers have increasingly focused their attention on the law of common carriage. Legislators have invoked common carriage to defend social media regulations against First Amendment challenges, making arguments set to take center stage in the Supreme Court's impending consideration of the NetChoice saga. This Article challenges the coherence of common carriage as a field and its utility for assessing the constitutionality and policy wisdom of internet regulation. Evaluating the post-Civil War history of common carriage regimes in telecommunications law, this Article illustrates that conceptions of common carriage and its treatment by the courts vary significantly and are contingent on specific historical and technological circumstances. The Article observes that common carriage is an attractive nuisance for policymakers and judges. The doctrine distracts from difficult normative questions about the permissibility of government interventions into speech and the editorial discretion of internet platforms. The Article disentangles talismanic invocations of "common carriage" by isolating three distinct issues: (1) the classification of "common carriers," (2) the imposition of "common carriage" rules on those carriers, and (3) the First Amendment problems that flow from the imposition. Applying this novel three-part framework, this Article argues for a contextsensitive approach to internet regulations. This approach evaluates the designation of carriers, the imposition of rules, and the role of the First Amendment at a granular level to more robustly account for the complexity of contemporary internet platforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The federal system has long been seen as one of the biggest obstacles to the digital transformation of the German state. With the enactment of the Online Access Act (OZG), a law that obliges all federal levels to offer their administrative services digitally in a joint portal network by the end of 2022, a new arena for multilevel collaboration has developed in Germany; the so-called digitalisation labs. The labs are intended to bring together representatives of all federal levels, external actors and citizens to promote problem-oriented policy design and the development of innovative policy solutions. Following a neo-institutionalist perspective and using the analytical concepts of multilevel governance and problem-solving, this paper investigates how the institutional settings, internal dynamics and actors' composition influence policy design processes in the labs. The empirical analysis is built on a qualitative case study of two digitalisation labs in the policy field 'Immigration and Emigration', and based on ten expert interviews as well as an extensive document analysis. The paper concludes that, by promoting problem-solving, the institutional settings as well as the organisational design and actors' constellations have influenced the policy design process in several ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues for localizing the provisioning of broadband internet access within the portfolio of municipal services with a view to achieving universal service penetration. In supporting this proposition, this paper first offers a critique of how the centralization of regulatory oversight at the federal level has proven problematic in meeting universal service objectives. The paper then presents a rationale and proposition for provisioning household broadband services in low-income urban areas through municipal social and subsidized housing undertakings, and as a partial redress to broadband disenfranchisement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous contributions to the literature have highlighted the disconnection between the 'release and forget' disclosure model of the (UK) Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) and the practical realities of anonymisation. This article builds on this literature, and proposes an alternative approach to disclosing anonymised data under the FOIA that operates on a context-dependant and risk-aware basis, and is designed to reconcile the law with the practical realities of anonymisation whilst striking a balance between the need to make public sector data more 'open' and protecting the privacy and data protection interests of individuals whose personal data might be contained in public sector datasets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many studies have illustrated how digital media can facilitate political criticisms and protests, but recent scholarship has noted the ability of authoritarian states to control the Internet and undermine its oppositional character. This study focuses on the “hybrid regime” of Hong Kong, where the progovernment forces have tried to counteract the formation of an online counterpublic sphere by setting up numerous online outposts since the mid-2010s. It examines how exposure to progovernment online media content is related to political attitudes. In addition to a direct relationship, drawing on inoculation theory, this article contends that progovernment online media may also consolidate support for the government by neutralizing the influence of online alternative media. Survey data analysis shows that exposure to progovernment online media content indeed related to more conservative views, and the connection between online alternative media use and prodemocracy attitudes was weaker among older citizens regularly exposed to progovernment online media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite growing scholarly attention, few studies have systematically investigated the historical evolution and patterns of Chinese Internet policies. We created the first comprehensive database of national-level Chinese Internet laws and policies between 1994 and 2017 and conducted a meta-analysis of 358 policy documents using content analysis and social network analysis. We found that (1) among the 71 government agencies involved in Chinese Internet regulation, there are central-peripheral dynamics as well as complex networks of collaboration; (2) although more than 40% of regulations concern information services, the overall regulatory emphasis has evolved from Internet infrastructure to online content to digital economy; and (3) while Chinese Internet policies historically follow the principle of "rule by directives" instead of "rule of law," dominated by low-level policies, leading to both arbitrariness and adaptability, recent state efforts aim to streamline policymaking. Overall, our study contributes to debates on three core issues in Internet governance from a Chinese perspective: Who (should) regulate the Internet? What issues (should) fall under regulatory oversight? And how should the Internet be regulated via what mechanisms?. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1997, the recently appointed French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin took a firm stance in favor of the Internet and announced an ambitious program to develop information technology and networks. In a country characterized by the lingering presence of the Minitel and bureaucratic reluctance to Internet solutions, this allocution, referred as the Hourtin speech, has been acknowledged as a turning-point in French internet policies. However, little is known about the dynamics that made such a statement possible. Based on interviews and personal archive of key actors, this paper offers to investigate the administrative and political processes that enabled such a change of position at the highest level of the State. While the role played by civil servants or government officials in promoting the development of the Internet in France has often been overlooked in internet histories, we offer new insight on the political work and administrative mobilizations that contributed to the diffusion of internet solutions and more broadly, to the advent of a digital revolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To what extent do personality traits and media exposure explain political ideology? How important is authoritarian information control in structuring political attitudes relative to individual-level factors? This article evaluates the sources of political ideology using survey data from over 10,000 in internet users in China. Consistent with the literature, we find that both personality traits and media exposure are significantly associated with one's expressed ideological orientation. However prior individual-level personality traits appear to have a larger impact than information exposure and may cause citizens to self-select media information. This means that media effects have a differential impact on individuals, with authoritarian personalities being more prone to reinforce their views with propaganda. This research highlights important ways that personality mediates information exposure, helps to explain the micro-foundations that shape authoritarian control at an individual level, explains the efficacy of propaganda techniques, as well as the mechanisms of political pluralism under authoritarianism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As both governments and tech companies increasingly seek to regulate speech online, these efforts raise critical, and contested, questions about how far those regulations can and should extend. Is it enough to delink or delist material in a geographically segmented way, or are global delinking and takedown orders needed to protect the underlying interests at stake? These questions have been posed in two high-profile disputes before the European Court of Justice and in litigation that has pitted Canadian and U.S. courts against one another. Meanwhile, a new form of geographically-segmented speech regulation is emerging--pursuant to which speech is limited based on who is speaking and from where, as opposed to what is being said. This Article examines the ways in which norms regarding speech, privacy, and a range of other rights conflict across borders, and examines the implications for territorial sovereignty and prospects for democratic control. It details the power of private-sector players in adjudicating and resolving these conflicts, the ways in which governments are seeking to harness this power on a global scale, and the broader implications for individual rights. It offers a nuanced approach that identifies the multiple competing interests at stake-- recognizing both the ways in which global takedowns or delisting can, at times, be a critical means of protecting key interests, and the risk of over-censorship and forced uniformity that can result. The Article also suggests new forms of decision making and accountability to reflect the shifting power structures and increasing porousness of borders online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information and communications technologies (ICTs) include old technologies—such as the radio and the television—as well as newer technologies—such as the Internet and wireless telephony. This study considers the process that the government of Uganda has used to adopt and implement ICT policy. This study also considers the techniques which the government of Uganda has used to distribute ICTS in public locations such as government offices, schools, and hospitals. In particular, this study attempts to consider the political motivations for distribution. The Ugandan government's attempt to distribute this technology reflects strengths in the area of distribution of artefacts, particularly to rural areas. Information and communications technologies are an important part of the Ugandan economy. In addition, ICTs strengthen the ability of citizens to communicate with each other across regional and language borders through shared access points. Methodologically, this paper uses the case study method. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with politicians, policy makers, civil society activists, citizens, academics, medical personnel, regional government officials, and business people. This paper argues that politicians use ICTs as a component of a basket of goods and services that they can distribute to witnessing publics. This paper argues that ICT should be viewed as a type of infrastructure, and that as a public good, it can be used as a "club" good or "pork." Although several authors discuss the potential of ICTs as democratizing, this paper documents that the Ugandan government has employed ICTs in oppressive ways, including for the surveillance of opposition leaders, and for social control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses issues on free speech rights, social media platforms, state constitutions, as well as Internet policy and regulation. Other topics include the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment, the state action doctrine, the provisions of the Communications Decency Act (CDA), and the case "Pruneyard Shopping Center v. Robins" to examine the effectiveness of state constitutions in assuring free speech rights online.

Copyright of Österreichische Zeitschrift für Soziologie is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The Dark Web, and the technology which underpins it, is fundamentally changing how crime is conducted. It is an enabler of cross-border, truly international crime where each of the major actors, evidence, and the proceeds of crime can all be in different jurisdictions. The technologies utilised mask the identity of individuals and the nature of the crimes committed. It is these complexities, and law's inability to deal with them, which this paper will focus on. It critically analyses six intersecting and overlapping themes in order to highlight the technological challenges posed by the Dark Web to the criminal law. The paper argues that the current approaches, regulatory structures, legislation and investigative methods are all unfit for purpose. There is little to suggest the law is any closer to restricting Dark Web crime, particularly given a substantial amount of the challenges posed are unsolved traditional issues, in a new form. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzes the value conflict of a paper on fan fiction writing that used online fan fiction novels as a source to extract and filter sexual expressions from text. The boundaries of public and private information are ambiguous because users are not always aware of or have agreed to the fact that their content is to be used openly. The case was complicated by the fact that the use of these data by researchers violated an unconsciously infringed upon right of a vulnerable community with a weak legal position. This paper describes the debate on this topic among researchers from engineering and humanities fields on whether the purpose of the research was ethically acceptable; how the systems can be embedded in ethical values; and what ethical, legal, social, and educational lessons are appropriate for governance of artificial intelligence (AI). Our analysis aimed not only to clarify the abstract concept of privacy but also to make changes to the submission guidelines for authors. We hope that our analysis contributes to the governance of ethical AIs and AI ethics on handling sensitive aspects of online activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between internet use and democracy in Africa. It examines the non-linearities and causality between the two variables in the short and long run for 38 countries in Africa.Design/methodology/approach The study is empirical. It uses pooled mean group and causality tests for the sample of 38 African countries.Findings The panel long-run and short-run estimates show evidence of significant non-linear relationship between internet usage and democracy. While internet usage is significantly and positively related to democracy, squared internet usage is significantly but positively related. This suggests that internet usage increases with the decrease of democracy, but after a certain level of internet usage which is the turning point, democracy starts to increase. Additionally, there is uni-directional causality from internet usage to democracy. However, a bi-directional causality exists between squared internet usage and democracy.Research limitations/implications The empirical evidence from this study suggests that internet usage and democracy are highly interrelated to each other in Africa. The findings support that at the macro level, Africa is moving toward a new stage, where internet will lead to improved levels of democracy and digital politics.Practical implications Remarkably, the paper shows that democracy displays a quadratic relationship with internet usage. As a whole, the findings indicate a U-shaped pattern: democracy decreases with internet usage, stabilizes, and then increases. In other words, internet usage increases with the decrease of democracy, but after a certain level of internet usage which is the turning point, democracy starts to increase.Social implications Many African Governments that have frequently imposed restrictions on internet and social media need to stop. The decline in democracy as internet usage increases may be explained by more severity of these restrictions. However, the findings support that at the macro level, Africa is moving toward a new stage, where internet will lead to improved levels of democracy and digital politics.Originality/value Contrary to previous conceptual papers, the current study empirically investigates the causality between internet and democracy in 38 African countries. The findings indicate a U-shaped pattern: democracy decreases with internet usage, stabilizes, and then increases. In other words, internet usage increases with the decrease of democracy but after a certain level of internet usage which is the turning point, democracy starts to increase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses how the internet, by generating new spaces for discourse, has produced novel types of speech that also warrant protection from governmental regulation. It discusses how the First Amendment provides that Congress shall make no law to prevent freedom of speech. It discusses President Donald Trump, has tried to prevent online criticism of his administration, but has also made statements and taken actions for governmental control of internet activity.

The field of consumer Internet of Things (IoT) has exploded as business and researchers have sought to not only develop Internetconnected products but also define the common structure in which IoT devices will operate, including technological standards and responsive architectures. Yet, consumer IoT continues to present a host of potential risks to consumers, cascading from the multidimensional nature of IoT devices: IoT combines well-known consumer products with cutting-edge infrastructures including big data solutions, distributed data storage or "cloud," and artificial intelligence (AI) utilities. The consumer device is no longer only the product, it is the product, the data, the algorithms, and the infrastructure. Consumer products have shifted from analog to connected technologies, introducing new risks for consumers related to personal privacy, safety issues, and potential for discriminatory data. Broad, ubiquitous data collection, internet connectivity, predictive algorithms, and overall device functionality opacity threaten to undermine IoT market benefits by causing potential consumer injury: broad unfairness and disparate impact, data breaches, physical safety issues, and property damage. Existing regulatory regimes have not anticipated these damages to effectively avoid injury, and it is yet unknown how existing products liability, common law civil recovery under contracts or torts schemes, and due process procedures will apply to these products and the data they process. This Article explores the technology and market of IoT, potential consumer impacts resulting from a lack of consistent and complete legal framework, whether IoT regulation is appropriate, and how the United States can balance market needs for innovation with consistent oversight for IoT manufacturers and distributors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Law and technology matters have traditionally been researched in discrete categories such as intellectual property (e.g., copyright, patent, or trademark) or intermediary liability and responsibility (e.g., secondary liability and telecommunications regulation). In the last two decades, however, academics have studied the broader interaction between law and technology across legal fields. This Article examines progress to date and discusses two distinct perspectives on law and technology. The dominant approach has been an instrumentalist one that treats technology as a tool for individuals to use while downplaying its broader social implications. However, the fields of philosophy of technology, science and technology studies, and social studies of science are now mature enough to support a rival approach grounded in a deep understanding of the nature--rather than the results--of technological change. This substantivist approach suggests analytical principles to refine and improve technology law and policy in ways that rival, instrumentalist approaches have neglected. For instance, substantivist commitments support a law and technology construct called a "digital persona" to emphasize the need for laws and policies to promote autonomy within the online world. By contrasting instrumentalist and substantivist approaches, we demonstrate new ways to integrate ethics, policy, and law in the digital age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the authority of the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) to perform surveillance activities under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Amendments Act (FAA). Topics discussed include the electronic foreign surveillance function of the NSA, upstream Internet collection, and reasons why the NSA should reintroduce "About" communications collection.

Since Regulation (EU) 2015/2120 of the European Parliament and of the Council came into force, Internet service providers have to fulfill various additional requirements in order to guarantee access to the open internet and provide transparent information to the end-users. Of the utmost importance is to ensure achievable, meaningful and comparable results of the internet quality indicators, particularly upload and download speed values. Regulation (EU) 2015/2120 stipulates that specific speeds should be indicated in the contracts: for fixed internet access service those are maximum, minimum, normally available and advertised speed and for mobile internet access service - estimated maximum and advertised speed. However, there are no common methods put in place to calculate required speed indicators that can lead to a large amount of noncomparable and unreviewable information and create difficulties for internet providers to describe quality indicators. Within the framework of the present research, a mathematical estimation algorithm has been elaborated and applied in order to ensure that required quality parameters are represented objectively and that they are intercomparable among different internet service providers. Unified calculation principle would foster end-user awareness of the meaning of quality indicators and also of the quality of received internet services. It would also facilitate the indication of the required information for internet service providers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the challenges of digital constitutionalism in practice through a case study examining how concepts of privacy and security have been framed and contested in Australian cyber security and telecommunications policy-making over the last decade. The Australian Government has formally committed to ‘internet freedom’ norms, including privacy, through membership of the Freedom Online Coalition (FOC). Importantly, however, this commitment is non-binding and designed primarily to guide the development of policy by legislators and the executive government. Through this analysis, we seek to understand if, and how, principles of digital constitutionalism have been incorporated at the national level. Our analysis suggests a fundamental challenge for the project of digital constitutionalism in developing and implementing principles that have practical or legally binding impact on domestic telecommunications and cyber security policy. Australia is the only major Western liberal democracy without comprehensive constitutional human rights or a legislated bill of rights at the federal level; this means that the task of ‘balancing’ what are conceived as competing rights is left only to the legislature. Our analysis shows that despite high-level commitments to privacy as per the Freedom Online Coalition, individual rights are routinely discounted against collective rights to security. We conclude by arguing that, at least in Australia, the domestic conditions limit the practical application and enforcement of digital constitutionalism’s norms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyzes one of the earliest intergovernmental initiatives regarding Internet constitutionalism. Based on an analytical framework that combines argumentative discourse analysis with elements from actor–network theory, it assesses the actors and discourses involved in the preparation of an international recommendation on universal access to the Internet, adopted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2003. During the contentious negotiations, UNESCO had to find a balance between the divergent positions of its member states and to account for the different levels of technological development amongst them. By retracing the performative and discursive struggles that UNESCO had to face to reach consensus, the article contributes to the general understanding of ideas and practices behind Internet policy making in international settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current paper aims to present a literature review for the researches conducted on internet public policy themes and provides a classification scheme for future research agenda. This research conducts a literature review based on the studies published in English and in a peer-reviewed journal from 1979 to 2015. Simple criterion method was used to find articles. 427 articles identified in 267 academic journals. All these articles were analyzed by year of publication, number of articles in the selected journal and area topics. This extended literature review provides an exhaustive and valuable source for future internet public policy research for practitioners and scholars by presenting a comprehensive list of references. Although, part of this article was published by (Kashani & Kasmani, 2018), the references listing associated with each internet public policy issue is original. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Internet is a powerful tool that is used for professional and personal reasons. In order to maximize its benefits for all people, ethical behavior needs to demonstrated by all users. For the Internet to be of supreme aid to people worldwide, regulations from different countries need to be synchronized, at least to some degree. This paper examines computers, the Internet, and the ways it is incorporated into different fields. It discusses the roles of the Internet Society and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), and where things stand politically today with their responsibilities. It delves into detail with regard to the Internet regulation of several countries and then provides a summary table for the regulation of many other countries worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The US-centric Internet history situates the start of the net neutrality debate around 2003, but a look at global Internet histories indicates otherwise. To wit: this case study of the forgotten net neutrality struggle that took place in France between 1979 and 1982. In 1978, the French PTT started "Minitel," the world's first successful mass market online ecosystem. The Minitel experience prefigured most of the legal, economic, industrial, and other public policy issues we face today in cyberspace. The concept of network neutrality was explicitly debated by administrators and regulators – only to be rejected upon pressure from the incumbent print press industry, which foresaw its own impending demise and did all it could to hinder the development of open and neutral digital fora. Minitel has been derided by many scholars and policy wonks as the epitome of statism that precluded real and meaningful innovation from emerging from the edges. This article demonstrates instead that hindrances to net neutrality in France in the early 1980s were the result of private sector lobbying, not of PTT administrators. It provides a counter-narrative grounded in historical data, to fuel further thinking about what policies will better support private innovation over modern online platforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of European Review of Public Law is the property of European Public Law Organization and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article argues that application of the term “cybercrime” is overly expansive and by this nature exclusive of lesser deviancies, or “microdeviations.” These relatively minor deviant actions are frequently encountered online but are ineffectively checked by regulation. Their banal nature contributes to normalization, informing manufactured uncertainty and moral panic. Several examples of microdeviation are explored emphasizing the intersection of normalization and anxiety and the potential impact on digital spaces. While this issue is only part of the greater societal impact of informationalization, it nonetheless raises important questions as the global north progresses toward harmonizing Internet regulations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

One of the most contentious and longstanding debates in Internet governance involves the question of oversight of the Domain Name System (DNS). DNS administration is sometimes described as a "clerical" or "merely technical" task, but it also implicates a number of public policy concerns such as trademark disputes, infrastructure stability and security, resource allocation, and freedom of speech. A parallel phenomenon involves governmental and private forces increasingly altering or co-opting the DNS for political and economic purposes distinct from its core function of resolving Internet names into numbers. This article examines both the intrinsic politics of the DNS in its operation and specific examples and techniques of co-opting or altering DNS' technical infrastructure as a new tool of global power. The article concludes with an analysis of the implications of this infrastructure-mediated governance on network security, architectural stability, and the efficacy of the Internet governance ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This Article is about the relationship between technology and society in fundamental rights theory. So far, the discussion about law and technology has generally been one-directional within the most relevant branches of the social sciences; scholars of the law have been treating technology as a black box when conducting their analyses or developing their theories. In turn, science and technology studies have considered law and regulation as a closed book, which is unsatisfactory as well. Reductionist and compartmentalized theorizing is particularly problematic when it comes to conceiving a fundamental rights theory that is able to cope with challenges of the Internet. Guided by Niklas Luhmann's autopoietic systems theory, this Article offers novel perspectives that aim at theoretically explaining how affordances can be conceptualized within constitutional rights theory, with the focus on the freedom of the Internet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides an overview of Internet shutdowns in Pakistan, which have become an increasingly common phenomenon, with 41 occurring between 2012 and 2017. It argues that to understand how shutdowns became normalized in Pakistan, it is necessary to look at the specific dynamics of how the shutdowns take place. In doing so, the concept of communicative ruptures develops to better understand intentional government shutdowns of communications. The article argues that strategic prevention of mobilization is key for short-term shutdowns, whereas long-term shutdowns can be better explained by looking at disciplinary mechanisms and denying the existence of "others." The article then discusses Internet shutdowns in the wider context of authoritarian practices before concluding with the urgent need for further research on this topic, both in Pakistan and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Authoritarian Internet control is generally explained by domestic power preservation: to curtail dissent within their borders, authoritarian regimes censor, monitor, and shape online communications. Yet this focus neglects important external factors. As a global communication technology, the Internet carries strategic and normative interests of competing international actors. This article investigates the influence of international politics on practices of Internet surveillance and censorship. Using the case of Iran, I analyze how opposition to the West, and particularly to the United States, led the Iranian state to perceive the Internet as a strategic battleground for regime stability. I argue that external threats in the form of democracy promotion, cyberattacks, and sanctions have created conditions enabling the Iranian state to advance and justify capabilities for censorship and surveillance. They have also pushed the regime to build a "national Internet" that is more resistant to outside influence and open to state control. Authoritarian practices are thus produced in international struggles over the use, content, and infrastructure of digital technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on China as the state dedicating the most coordinated, strategic, and consistent efforts to promoting an Internet sovereignty agenda at home and abroad. At its core, the Chinese case for Internet sovereignty envisions the regime's absolute control over the digital experience of its population, with a focus on three dimensions: Internet governance, national defense, and internal influence. Through its guidance of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and creation of the World Internet Conference, normative collaborations with Russia and other states, and promotion of Internet sovereignty as benefiting developing states in particular, the Chinese government is advocating for global recognition of the norm over the long term. Yet growing international support for Internet sovereignty could undermine multistakeholderism, transparency, accountability, and human rights, sparking new flash points in ongoing contestation over digital norms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines Internet policies across the former Soviet region, showing that many of the region's nondemocratic regimes have adopted similar approaches to control Internet content and use within their territories. The implication that specific control practices are diffusing or being coordinated on within the region is substantiated by close examination of particular approaches and their origins. While these states have made relatively limited use of static content censorship, alternative, less overt controls have spread across the region. Tracing the roles of diffusion and coordination mechanisms, the article demonstrates how, even as overall Internet repression levels have increased, the particular legal frameworks, technical systems, and other control practices used have been deeply influenced by complex regional interdependencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The origins and escalation of group violence are central to the criminological enterprise. Explanations of collective violence were developed when face-to-face interactions constituted the primary form of social exchange. The Internet and related technologies provide new formats for social interaction and collective behaviors and have become increasingly salient for both of these topics. Technology alters the communication capacities of individuals and groups through the dissemination of rumor and gossip and is closely tied to inter- and intra-group relations. We illustrate the evolving landscape of group process and collective violence by focusing on street gangs and the nascent literature on gangs' use of the Internet. Next, we provide an expanded model of the cycle of gang violence, one that emphasizes the correlates and contingencies of the diffusion and escalation of conflict and more explicitly recognizes the growing importance of technology for violence. Using data from street offenders and gang members in five US cities, we provide an initial empirical assessment of core theoretical propositions in the model. We conclude by discussing the implications for future research on the relationship between technology and violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]