Governments and other actors around the globe increasingly curate the content and information that citizens can access online. This is done in an attempt to control media narratives, support policy priorities, and at its most flagrant, to stifle dissent. In countries with a new or limited internet infrastructure, governing bodies act as default regulators of the online space.

The internet not only serves as a means of connecting individuals, but also as a repository for some of those users most sensitive or personal information. This wealth of information may be exploited by malicious actors to target and monitor individuals and communities. Unwarranted access to personal data is especially dangerous to vulnerable populations like Women, LGBTI persons, and others whose data may put them at risk of direct persecution.

The most extreme manifestation of attempts to control the online flow of information is the complete disruption of internet access to users. Disruptions can range from localized or targeted blackouts to blanketed internet shutdowns. In a digital world, these disturbances have the power to shut out affected populations from critical infrastructures and channels of opportunity. Such internet blocking is an increasingly common weapon employed by governments and other actors to confront civil unrest, activism and other acts of citizen expression and engagement.

Lawmakers are closing the online space and restricting individuals’ fundamental rights to a free and open internet by introducing and passing dangerously broad or vague policies to address the digital space. Governments have expanded definitions of terrorism to include blogger activity, implemented draconian press laws that are no longer relevant to the internet, and rewritten cybercrime legislation to restrict the free flow of information.