As American citizens, we’ve been taught throughout our upbringing that our country is a role-model for freedom and democracy. Until the internet emerged as a primary form of communication, it was the truth. Now, however, the fact that the US government uses their power to censor websites for the “safety” of citizens has been noticed and cited as a reason for other countries to do the same.
Sami Zaoui, the state secretary of Tunisia (which is currently in the midst of a revolution), announced last week that the country will continue to block websites that are “against decency, contain violent elements or incite to hate”. When a Twitter follower criticized the move, Zaoui responded, “False! The countries most advanced in terms of freedom block terrorist websites. One has to know the truth.”
After reading this story on Techdirt earlier, I began wondering just how widespread our government censorship of the internet is. A quick bit of research uncovered a list compiled by the Electronic Freedom Foundation (EFF) of websites that have been shut down by the US government. I already knew about the several domains seized by Homeland Security in November from my reporting at MyCE, however, that is far from being an isolated incident, as the EFF list shows.
We all want to be safe, but do we really want the government censoring the internet under the guise of keeping us safe? I know I don’t.
Frankly, I find it to be a sad state of affairs that a country attempting to build a new democracy is able to point to the US and use it as a role model for censorship. And, if the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA) passes, the government will be able to place any domain on an internet “blacklist” that internet service providers will be required to block.
If you don’t like the sound of that, you do still have a voice. I urge you to contact your state senator’s office and let them know that you oppose COICA and other internet censorship. If we don’t stand up for our existing freedoms, we could be in danger of losing them.
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