The Splinternet
How the dream of a single, open, global internet is fracturing into national and regional networks as states assert sovereignty over cyberspace.
The Fracturing Internet
The internet was originally conceived as a borderless, global network where information would flow freely. This vision is dying. China's Great Firewall blocks Western platforms and creates a separate digital ecosystem with domestic alternatives: Baidu instead of Google, Weibo instead of Twitter, WeChat instead of WhatsApp. Russia has built technical capabilities to disconnect its internet from the global network (the 'sovereign internet' law of 2019) and has blocked or restricted dozens of foreign platforms. Iran, North Korea, and other authoritarian states maintain their own forms of internet control.
But fragmentation is not only an authoritarian phenomenon. The EU's data protection regime (GDPR) has created a distinct regulatory environment that global companies must adapt to or withdraw from. India's ban on TikTok and dozens of Chinese apps on national security grounds fractured the digital landscape. Even the US government's efforts to ban or force the sale of TikTok represent a form of digital protectionism. The result is a global internet that is increasingly fractured along national, regional, and geopolitical lines.
