Google-China Row Could Reflect A New Era Of Internet Control

In its first public reaction to the Internet row between Google and the Chinese government, Beijing today reasserted its right to control the Internet and strengthen what it calls "Internet management." China's position, which comes amid attempts by many authoritarian regimes to control the web, has led some commentators to question whether a new trend toward local or state control over the Internet is developing. Experts say the case, where Google has threatened to shut down its operations in China because of government censorship and cyberattacks against rights activists, reflects the clash between local or national interests and the forces of globalization. Silvio Waisbord, an expert on media and globalization and the director of graduate studies at George Washington University, says we are witnessing "another round of a very long battle between the forces of globalization -- media globalization -- and one of the few governments [China] that actually has tremendous political and economic power to stand up to the demands of those interests." "This is not a new battle that Google is having in China, and I'm sure this is not going to be the last battle of this struggle," he says. "Regardless of how this issue actually gets solved, I think that [battle] is going to continue."

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/GoogleChina_Row_Could_Reflect_A_New_Era_Of_Internet_Control__/1929782.html