The Cycles of Global Telecommunication Censorship and Surveillance
Santa Clara Law School - High Tech Law Institute, Internet Law Work-In-Progress Paper Series No.3, March, 2014
University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Law, Vol. 36, No. 3, 2015
61 Pages Posted: 21 Feb 2014 Last revised: 27 May 2021
Date Written: 2014
Abstract
Internet censorship and surveillance is on the rise globally and cyber-warfare increasing in scope and intensity. To help understand these new threats commentators have grasped at historical analogies often with little regard for historical complexity or international perspective. Unfortunately, helpful new works on telecommunications history have focused primarily on U.S. history with little focus on international developments. There is thus a need for further internationally oriented investigation of telecommunications technologies, and their history. This essay attempts to help fill that void, drawing on case studies wherein global telecommunications technologies have been disrupted or censored — telegram censorship and surveillance, high frequency radio jamming, and direct broadcast satellite blocking. The case studies suggest remarkable regulatory patterns or cycles with insights for current censorship and privacy threats and challenges.
Keywords: internet censorship, privacy, surveillance, telecommunications, international law, global telecommunications, telecommunications history, NSA, surveillance, encryption, communications law, international policy
JEL Classification: K19
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation