Author Rebecca MacKinnon on the Global Struggle For Internet Freedom
Summary
TLDREn esta entrevista con Rebecca McKinnon, se discuten los desafíos que enfrenta la libertad en internet, destacando cómo el internet, aunque es un poderoso medio para la democracia y la creatividad, también puede ser utilizado por gobiernos autoritarios y corporaciones para censurar y vigilar a los ciudadanos. McKinnon menciona ejemplos de China, Facebook y Apple, subrayando la necesidad de que la evolución de internet sea compatible con los valores democráticos y proteja los derechos de los usuarios. Además, se aborda la importancia de la protesta contra legislaciones como SOPA y PIPA.
Takeaways
- 🌐 El Internet se considera una fuerza liberadora, pero también se usa para la vigilancia y represión de libertades civiles.
- 🔒 La legislación como SOPA y PIPA plantea preguntas sobre quién controla el acceso y el contenido en línea, lo que podría tener consecuencias políticas.
- 📱 Los gobiernos autoritarios están adaptando nuevas formas de censura y vigilancia en la era de Internet, utilizando empresas privadas para controlar el contenido.
- 🇨🇳 En China, las empresas locales de Internet son responsables de monitorear y censurar a los usuarios para cumplir con las demandas del gobierno.
- 📵 En democracias, la censura en línea, inicialmente destinada a proteger la seguridad y el orden público, puede expandirse más allá de su propósito original.
- 👤 Las configuraciones de privacidad son cruciales, especialmente cuando los gobiernos pueden monitorear y acceder a publicaciones en línea sin restricciones.
- ⚖️ Las leyes de privacidad y acceso del gobierno a la información en línea están erosionando derechos fundamentales como la protección contra búsquedas y confiscaciones irrazonables.
- 💻 Las empresas como Facebook, Apple y Amazon han tomado decisiones que restringen la libertad de expresión, incluso cuando no se han cometido delitos.
- 📅 Las protestas en línea, como el apagón de Wikipedia, subrayan la preocupación generalizada por la censura en Internet, incluso en países democráticos.
- 🛡️ La evolución de Internet debe garantizar que sea compatible con los valores democráticos, protegiendo los derechos de los usuarios en el espacio digital.
Q & A
¿Cuál es el papel de Internet en la organización política y el activismo, según Rebecca McKinnon?
-Rebecca McKinnon explica que Internet y las plataformas digitales son fundamentales para la vida política y el activismo, permitiendo a los ciudadanos organizarse y participar en el discurso político. Sin embargo, también advierte que estas plataformas están sujetas al control tanto de gobiernos como de corporaciones, lo que puede limitar la libertad de expresión y la capacidad de organización.
¿Por qué Rebecca McKinnon considera preocupante la legislación como SOPA y PIPA?
-McKinnon considera que leyes como SOPA y PIPA son preocupantes porque otorgan demasiado poder a entidades gubernamentales y corporativas para decidir lo que los usuarios pueden ver y hacer en Internet. Esto puede llevar a abusos de poder y a restricciones en la libertad de expresión y acceso a la información.
¿Qué es el 'Control 2.0' y cómo lo utiliza China, según la autora?
-El 'Control 2.0' se refiere a la forma en que los gobiernos autoritarios, como China, están evolucionando en la era de Internet. En lugar de cortar el acceso a Internet, China lo expande pero controla estrictamente el contenido que sus ciudadanos pueden ver. Utilizan empresas privadas para llevar a cabo la censura y vigilancia, manteniendo un control rígido sin desconectar a la población de la red global.
¿Cómo afecta la política de nombres reales de Facebook a los activistas en regímenes autoritarios?
-La política de Facebook que exige el uso de nombres reales expone a los activistas a riesgos, especialmente en regímenes autoritarios. McKinnon menciona el caso de Egipto, donde los activistas que usaban nombres falsos tuvieron sus cuentas cerradas, dificultando su capacidad de organización y exponiéndolos a represalias gubernamentales.
¿Qué crítica tiene McKinnon sobre las políticas de censura de empresas como Apple y Amazon?
-McKinnon critica a empresas como Apple y Amazon por censurar contenido en sus plataformas que consideran controvertido, incluso cuando es legal según las leyes de derechos humanos y la Constitución de los Estados Unidos. Por ejemplo, Apple censuró aplicaciones como la del Dalai Lama en China y contenido satírico en EE.UU., mientras que Amazon dejó de alojar WikiLeaks bajo presión política.
¿Qué problemas señala McKinnon con respecto a la vigilancia y la privacidad en la era digital?
-McKinnon destaca la erosión de los derechos de privacidad debido a la vigilancia gubernamental y corporativa. Menciona cómo leyes como el Acta Patriota facilitan el acceso del gobierno a correos electrónicos y datos en servidores corporativos sin una orden judicial, lo que supone una amenaza para los derechos de privacidad protegidos por la Constitución.
¿Qué impacto tiene la censura de Internet en las democracias según McKinnon?
-McKinnon argumenta que la censura en Internet no solo es un problema en regímenes autoritarios, sino también en democracias donde leyes y políticas pueden limitar el acceso a información y restringir la libertad de expresión. Esto ocurre cuando las leyes se aplican más allá de su intención original, lo que ella llama 'creep de misión'.
¿Por qué es importante que las personas comprendan cómo evoluciona Internet, según McKinnon?
-Según McKinnon, es fundamental que los ciudadanos comprendan que la evolución de Internet no es un fenómeno natural, sino algo que depende de las decisiones que tomemos como usuarios, consumidores y votantes. Es crucial asegurarse de que Internet evolucione de manera que sea compatible con los valores democráticos y no solo para beneficiar a gobiernos autoritarios o grandes corporaciones.
¿Qué cambios en las políticas de privacidad de Facebook generaron preocupación y qué acciones se tomaron?
-Las políticas de privacidad de Facebook generaron preocupación cuando, a fines de 2009, cambiaron sin previo aviso, exponiendo información privada de los usuarios. Como resultado, la Comisión Federal de Comercio de EE.UU. multó a Facebook y alcanzó un acuerdo para proteger mejor la privacidad de sus usuarios.
¿Cuál es la postura de McKinnon sobre el papel de las empresas tecnológicas en la protección de los derechos de los usuarios?
-McKinnon cree que las empresas tecnológicas deben considerar más cuidadosamente los derechos de privacidad y libertad de expresión de sus usuarios. Las decisiones que estas empresas toman sobre qué contenido permitir o bloquear pueden tener grandes implicaciones para la capacidad de los usuarios de ejercer sus derechos democráticos y hablar en contra del poder.
Outlines
🌐 El papel de Internet en la lucha por la libertad digital
Rebecca McKinnon explica cómo el internet, aunque se ve como una fuerza liberadora, también es utilizado para vigilar y restringir derechos civiles. Habla de cómo plataformas y servicios que usamos diariamente son controlados por gobiernos y corporaciones, afectando lo que podemos ver, publicar y acceder. Además, menciona la importancia de la lucha legislativa en EE.UU., como con las leyes SOPA y PIPA, que podrían otorgar demasiado poder sobre la libertad digital.
🕵️♀️ Censura en democracias y dictaduras
McKinnon expone cómo el internet puede empoderar tanto a dictadores como a demócratas, y cómo la censura no es exclusiva de regímenes autoritarios. En democracias como EE.UU. y Europa, las leyes que buscan proteger derechos pueden terminar censurando más allá de lo previsto. Además, alerta sobre la dificultad de controlar la expansión de la censura una vez implementada.
📱 El control gubernamental y las empresas privadas
La autora detalla cómo China ha mantenido su autoritarismo a pesar de la expansión del internet, delegando a empresas privadas la tarea de censurar y vigilar. Las grandes corporaciones como Facebook, Google y Apple también juegan un rol controversial, ya que sus decisiones pueden limitar la libertad de expresión, como con la censura de apps o la exposición de identidades de activistas en lugares como Egipto o Irán.
🔐 La privacidad y las vulnerabilidades en las redes sociales
McKinnon aborda casos específicos de vulnerabilidades en plataformas como Facebook, donde activistas en Egipto perdieron acceso a sus cuentas por violar políticas de nombres reales. También menciona cómo gobiernos autoritarios, como Irán, utilizan redes sociales para obtener información que puede ser utilizada en torturas, y cómo cambios repentinos en configuraciones de privacidad han expuesto a usuarios a peligros.
🛡️ Erosión de la privacidad y la vigilancia gubernamental
La discusión gira en torno a cómo las leyes recientes en EE.UU. han facilitado el acceso del gobierno a datos privados sin las protecciones que históricamente se aplicaban a la correspondencia física. McKinnon critica que la privacidad en correos electrónicos y otros datos almacenados en servidores de empresas privadas ha sido erosionada, permitiendo un acceso casi ilimitado por parte de agencias gubernamentales.
🌍 La protesta global contra la censura en internet
El cierre temporal de sitios como Wikipedia en protesta por leyes de censura en EE.UU. es un ejemplo de cómo la censura afecta tanto a democracias como a dictaduras. McKinnon concluye subrayando que es responsabilidad de todos, como usuarios y votantes, asegurar que el internet siga siendo un espacio compatible con los valores democráticos.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Guerra en Vietnam
💡Libertad en internet
💡Censura
💡Surveillance
💡Primavera Árabe
💡Acta de Protección de la Propiedad Intelectual (PIPA)
💡Primera Enmienda
💡Gran Cortafuegos de China
💡Amazon y Wikileaks
💡Democracia
Highlights
The internet has been touted as a liberating force but is often used for surveillance and cracking down on civil liberties.
Internet services are vital for political discourse and activism, making accountability for those in power crucial.
The SOPA and PIPA legislations raise concerns over who controls what people can access online, risking potential political consequences.
Existing copyright laws have been abused to prevent critics from speaking out.
The internet empowers everyone – from activists to dictators, democrats to criminals, making governance crucial.
Ensuring the internet evolves in a way that supports democratic values is critical to prevent power abuses.
Countries like Tunisia, post-Arab Spring, are grappling with censorship and surveillance debates in their new democracies.
Even democratic countries are enacting censorship laws that risk political misuse and can expand beyond their original intent.
China exemplifies how an authoritarian state can survive the internet age through a mix of censorship, surveillance, and filtering.
Private corporations in China are heavily involved in censoring and monitoring internet users at the state's request.
Facebook’s policy of requiring real names has exposed activists in countries like Egypt and Iran to governmental repression.
Privacy settings on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter are vital as governments increasingly monitor online activities.
Companies like Apple have censored politically sensitive apps, like those related to the Dalai Lama, to comply with national regulations.
Amazon dropped WikiLeaks under political pressure, raising concerns about companies’ role in protecting free expression rights.
The erosion of privacy rights under laws like the Patriot Act allows easier access to private data stored on corporate servers.
Transcripts
why I oppose the war in Vietnam this is
democracy Now democracynow.org The War
and Peace report I'm Amy Goodman we're
joined by Rebecca mckinon in Washington
DC author of consent of the network the
worldwide struggle for internet Freedom
we welcome you to democracy Now um
Rebecca the internet has been touted as
such a tremendous liberating Force when
we look at the events of this past year
um the uprising throughout the Middle
East part of the discussion of how that
moment came is because of the internet
uh because of social media and yet you
talk about more often than not the
internet is being used to spy on to
crack down on spy on people crack down
on civil liberties talk about what you
have found and how this relates to the
legislation that we're seeing now being
developed in
Washington well thanks very much Amy for
having me on here today and just to
connect uh my book to the the issues
that you were just discussing in the
previous segment about um uh the protect
IP Act and the stop online piracy act I
think the reason why this these issues
are so important for ordinary Americans
and really go beyond um just sort of a
nerdy geeky technical issue is that in
in today's society we as Citizens
increasingly depend on Internet services
and platforms mobile services and
platforms not only for our personal
lives and our businesses and our jobs
but also for our political discourse and
political activism um getting involved
with politics and so it's very important
that people who are exercising power
whether they're corporate or whether
they're government um that are
exercising power over what we can see
over what we can access over what we can
publish and transmit through these
digital spaces um need to be held
accountable and we need to make sure
that power is not being abused in these
digital spaces and platforms that we
depend on and so that's why uh this
soapa and pea legislation and the fight
over it is so important it's is who are
you empowering to decide um what people
can and cannot see and do on the
internet and how do you make sure that
that that power is not going to be
abused
in ways that could have political
consequences and we've actually seen how
um existing copyright law has sometimes
been abused um by different actors who
want to prevent critics from speaking
out um and but but coming back to the
Arab Spring my my book is not about
whether the good guys or the bad guys
are winning on the internet the internet
is empowering everybody it's empowering
Democrats it's empowering dictators it's
empowering criminals it's empowering uh
people who are doing really wonderful
and creative things but the issue really
is how do we ensure that the internet
evolves in a manner that remains
consistent with our democratic values
and that continues to support people's
ability to use these Technologies for
descent and political organizing and
while the internet was part of the story
in the Arab Spring in terms of how
people were able to organize it's not so
clear to what extent it's going to be
part of the story in terms of building
stable democracies in in countries like
Tunisia and Egypt uh where the dictators
did fall um let alone in a number of
other countries in Tunisia for instance
there's a big argument going on uh now
that they've had their uh set of
democratic election elections to the um
constitutional assembly and they're
trying to write their constitution and
figure out how to set up a new democracy
and Tunisia under uh Ben Ali was
actually one of the most sophisticated
Arab countries when it came to censoring
and surveillance on the internet and
quite a number of the people who've been
democratically elected in Tunisia are
calling for a resumption of censorship
and surveillance for national security
reasons to maintain public morals and
public order and there's a huge debate
going on about what is the role um of
censorship and surveillance in a
democracy and how do you make sure that
power is not abused and they turn and
look at at at the United States they
look at Europe and censorship laws are
proliferating around the Democratic
world and there's not sufficient um
discussion and
consideration um for how these laws are
going to be abused and we've seen
actually um in Europe with a number of
efforts to uh censor both um uh
copyright infringement as well as child
pornography and so on that a lot of this
internet blocking that happens even in
democracies um often times uh exercises
Mission creeps so things that weren't
originally intended to be blocked end up
getting blocked when when the systems
are in place it's really difficult to
make sure that uh the the censorship
does not spread Beyond its original
intent it's very hard to control
um so this this is one of the the issues
it's not that the Internet isn't
empowering it's not that the internet
can't help the good guys it certainly
does but we're at a critical point I
think in history where the internet is
not some force of nature how it evolves
um and how it can be used and who it
empowers really depends on all of us
taking responsibility for making sure it
evolves in a Direction that's compatible
with democracy and that it doesn't
empower
um the most powerful incumbent
governments or the most powerful
corporations to decide what we can and
cannot see and do with our technology
Rebecca mckinon talk about the
phenomenon of control
2.0 right so control
2.0 uh is what I refer to in in terms of
how
authoritarian um governments are
evolving in the internet age and so one
example I use is is China and China in
in many ways is exhibit a for how an
authoritarian State survives the
internet and how do they do that they
have not cut off their population uh
from the internet in fact the internet's
expanding rapidly in China they now have
over 500 million internet users and the
Chinese government recognizes that being
connected to the global internet is
really important for its economy uh for
its education its culture for Innovation
yet at the same time uh they have worked
out a way to filter and censor um the
the content overseas that they feel
their citizens should not be accessing
and what's even more Insidious actually
is the way in which the state uses the
private sector to conduct most of its
censorship and surveillance so actually
what we know is the great firewall of
China that blocks t Twitter and Facebook
that's only one part of Chinese internet
censorship actually most Chinese
internet users are using Chinese
language websites that are run by
Chinese companies based in China and
those companies are all held
responsible for everything their users
are doing and so they have to hire
entire Departments of people to monitor
their users at the uh police's behest um
and also to not just block but delete
content that uh the Chinese government
believes infringes Chinese law um and of
course when in a country where crime is
defined very broadly to include
political and religious dissent that
involves a great deal of censorship and
it's being conducted to a great degree
not by government agents but by private
corporations who are complying with
these demands in order to make a profit
in China Rebecca talk about uh specifics
like Facebook Facebook uh changes in
Facebook features and privacy settings
uh exposing identities of protesters to
police in Egypt and Iran uh talk about
Google talk about Apple removing
politically uh controversial
apps right so so for instance with
Facebook um Facebook has its own kind of
type of governance which is why I call
Private Internet companies the the
sovereigns of cyberspace and so Facebook
has a rule where it requires that its
users need to use their real name their
real identity and while some people
violate that rule that makes them
vulnerable to having their account shut
down if they are discovered and so the
reason they do this is is that they want
people to be accountable for their
speech um and prevent bullying and so on
and that may make sense in the context
of of a western
democracy assuming that uh um you're
you're not vulnerable in your workplace
or anything like that which is even a
question but it it means that um you
have to as as an Egyptian activist or as
an activist in in Syria and so on um
you're more exposed because you have to
be on Facebook using your real name and
and actually um a a group of prominent
activists in Egypt who were using using
Facebook to to organize an anti-torture
movement um were doing so before the
regime fell under fake names and
actually at a critical point where they
were trying to uh organize a major
protest their Facebook group went down
because they were in violation of the
terms of service and uh they actually
had to find somebody in the US to take
over their their Facebook page so that
they could continue to operate um and
you also have a lot of cases of people
in Iran um there have been a number of
reports of being people being tortured
for their Facebook passwords and and so
on and the fact that um Iranian uh users
are are in in most cases using their
real names makes them um a great deal
more vulnerable and um as as you know um
the in here in the United States um
Facebook recently was subject to um uh
to to fine um and had to reach a
settlement with the the um Federal Trade
Commission because of the changes in in
its privacy settings that had been
sudden at the end of 2009 uh people had
made assumptions about um whether their
friends could be seen or not publicly
suddenly those settings changed and it
exposed a lot of people in ways that in
some cases were very dangerous um but
also let's take some other companies and
um some of the issues um that uh that
users face Apple um in its App Store uh
it has different versions of its App
Store in different parts of the world
and their Chinese app store sensors um
applications that um that the Chinese
government um believes to to be
controversial so for instance the Daly
Lama app um uh in the Apple Store is not
available in China uh but Apple
employees these are also making a lot of
other judgments about what content is
and isn't appropriate that goes um
according to standards that are much
more narrow than our first amendment
rights so for instance a um American
political cartoonist Mark Fior had an
app uh in which he was making fun of um
a range of politicians including
President Obama and uh Apple App Store
uh nannies um decided to censor that app
uh because they considered it to be too
controversial uh even though that speech
was clearly protected under the First
Amendment so you have companies making
these judgments that that go well beyond
sort of our judicial and and
constitutional process you also have
Amazon for instance dropping Wikileaks
even though it had not been accused let
alone convicted of any crime simply
because a number of American
politicians uh object Ed to WikiLeaks um
and and so there there's this issue of
our companies in the way in which they
operate their services considering the
free expression rights and privacy
rights of their users sufficiently to
ensure that we're able to have robust
dissent that people can speak truth to
power in a manner that may be making um
current government officials very very
comfortable but which is clearly
protected both under our Constitution
and the universal Declaration of Human
Rights Rea are should we be expecting
companies to push back a bit more I
wanted to ask you about the newly
released government documents that are
revealed the Department of Homeland
Security hired the military contractor
General Dynamics to monitor postings of
US citizens on dozens of websites uh the
sites monitored included Facebook and
Twitter as well as several news sites
including the New York Times w The
Huffington Post General Dynamics was
asked to collect reports that dealt with
government agencies including CIA FEMA
ice your
thoughts well this this is exactly the
kind of issue that we need to deal with
in a democracy now uh if they have been
hired to monitor postings that citizens
are putting on a public we website um I
think that's a reminder that uh our
public information uh is public and that
it's being mined and and uh and watched
by all kinds of people um but it's also
a an example of why privacy settings are
so important and why um why it's
important that people should be able to
be anonymous um if they want to be on
the internet uh if they fear
consequences or if they fear fear misuse
of the way in which they're can carrying
out political discussions that could be
used against them in different ways um
and there's also a a real issue I think
in the way in which our laws are
evolving uh when it comes to government
access to information stored on
corporate servers that is supposed to be
private that we are not intending to be
seen um in public which is that
according to to the Patriot Act and and
a range of other law that has been
passed in recent years it's much easier
for for government agencies to access
your email to access information about
your postings on on Twitter even if
they're Anonymous um then it is for for
government agents to come in your home
and and search your personal effects to
do that they need they need a warrant
there there is very clear restriction on
the government's ability to read your
mail yet according to current law if
your email is older than 180 days old
the government can access your your
email if it's stored on Gmail or or
Yahoo or Hotmail without any kind of
Warrant or court order so there's a real
erosion of the our our fourth amendment
rights really um to protection from
unreasonable search and seizure and this
is going on I think um to a great degree
without a lot of people realizing the
extent to which which our privacy rights
are being eroded Rebecca we have 30
seconds but the significance of
Wednesday of Tomorrow of uh uh Wikipedia
many other websites going dark uh in
protest of the legislation here in the
United States what do you think is uh
the most important issue people should
take away um from what's Happening and
also from your book consent of the
network well to I think the action
tomorrow really demonstrates that
internet censorship affects everybody
it's not just affecting people in China
that this is an an issue that we all
need to be concerned about and it can
happen in democracies as well as in
dictatorships and the core message of my
book is that if we want democracy to
survive in the internet age we really
need to work uh to make sure that the
internet evolves in a manner that is
compatible with democracy and that means
exercising our power not only as
consumers and internet users and
investors but also as voters
to make sure that our digital lives
contain the same kind of protections of
our rights that we expect in physical
space Rebecca McKinnon I want to thank
you very much for being with us senior
fellow at the new America Foundation
co-founder of global voices online her
new book is called consent of the
network the worldwide struggle for
internet Freedom this is democracynow
democracynow.org the Warr
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