Internet Censorship: A Litmus Test for Freedom

My new column has been posted:

Internet Censorship: A Litmus Test for Freedom
By Michael Kleen

As the sole bastion of total freedom on the planet, a place where the unfettered exchange of information and ideas can take place over thousands of miles virtually instantaneously, it didn’t take long for the Internet to come under attack. A global map of Internet censorship is like an atlas of freedom and totalitarianism. It perfectly illustrates that Internet censorship is a litmus test of to what degree a government fears the free exchange of ideas, with a closed society on one end and an open society on the other.

While the People’s Republic of China, North Korea, Libya, Cuba, and the other usual suspects occupy one end of the spectrum, Western democracies are supposed to occupy the other. It should be alarming, then, that a number of laws meant to restrict and regulate the Internet have been introduced in Western nations, leading to the question: if the unrestricted flow of information occupies one end of the spectrum, and totalitarian control of information occupies the other end, in what direction are our elected officials heading? The answer is clear, and the fear with which these officials demonstrate toward the freedom of information is laid bare through their statements in support of such legislation…

Read the entire column!