22 February, 2011

Shutdown of internet in Libya

Hello,

This blog post is not intended to dish out information. All information contained is of the opinion of the author.

I have been praying for my friends in Libya. It seems as if the government there is bombing its own people. This makes me real glad to be in the USA. It also appears as if they have cut off mobile and land line access, as well as all internet traffic. Egypt tried this, and this didn't work too well. There are ways around the blocks. A quick google search will show anyone how, although if internet is blocked it will be up to those outside of Libya to get in contact with people in Libya to inform them of how to do this. So, here's a question, and all comments are welcome: Should governments have access over ISP's and shutting down the internet? The United States has been talking about an internet kill switch, other countries obviously are now cutting off internet access any time they feel like it, and I haven't seen too many posts analyzing whether this is ssomething that ought to be done or not. In my opinion, the internet belongs to the people as a whole. It is not the United States' internet, or Egypt's internet, or Libya's internet. It blongs to all of us. When government cut off internet access, it makes the people who are affected double their efforts to make information available to the wider world and to access information that they lack. Do governments really believe that cutting off people's internet solves any of their problems? It only makes them look like the tyrants that they are.

No comments: