VIDEO: #InternetShutdowns and the Silencing of Dissent @Internews @arsenebaguma @MishiChoudhary @carobotero #keepiton
Earlier today, Thursday March 2 2017, Internews presented Internet Shutdowns and the Silencing of Dissent at Google in Washington DC. From nation-wide shutdowns in Uganda and Gambia to targeted ones in Cameroon and India, restrictions and full blackouts of internet service have become a favorite tool of autocratic and repressive regimes. Shutdowns have wide-ranging effects on everything from political speech to commerce. Internet freedom activists and policy experts from the front lines of shutdown battles discussed their advocacy work, the trends they are seeing, and how internet shutdowns affect the daily lives of their fellow citizens. Speakers: Mishi Choudhary, President and Founding Director for Software Freedom Law Center, India; Arsene Tungali, Co-Founder & Executive Director of Rudi International, the Democratic Republic of the Congo; Carolina Botero, Director of Fundacion Karisma, Colombia. Moderator: Kat Duffy, VP of Global Technology Programs, Internews. Video is below.
View on YouTube: https://youtu.be/2CmpZCRKehc
Twitter: #internetshutdowns
Fred Baker 5:32 pm on 03/02/2017 Permalink |
The issue with a shutdown is, of course, that it not only hurts the dissenters, but the folks that did the shutdown. It affects commerce, and trust in the infrastructure. That damage lasts long after the shutdown has gone away. It’s a little like cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face, as the saying goes.