Access Contested
15
governments (including, ironically, the United States itself) to develop and refi ne
offensive actions in cyberspace against adversaries, however they are defi ned.
There is an ongoing contest over what this hybrid environment will look like over
time and a growing realization of the battle ’ s stakes among all groups. Most importantly, as Deibert and Rohozinski argue, the contests reach down to the very inner
workings of the Internet architecture and call into question principles and protocols
that were once assumed away as noncontroversial as governments like China and
Russia assert their interests for a different vision of cyberspace.
In chapter 9, Milton Mueller provides an analysis of China ’ s international strategies
for cyberspace, a component of its Internet control regime that is often overlooked
but growing in importance. Unwilling to accept a cyberspace determined by others,
particularly as the number of Chinese Internet users expands, China is asserting a
more ambitious foreign policy for cyberspace. These strategies are naturally bumping
up against others ’ interests but also fi nding support from like-minded governments
and international organizations.
The growing centrality of online activities to life in general is the primary driver
of cyberspace contests. From the perspective of Internet users, online activity is
increasingly a part of everyday life — not a separate sphere to which they travel occasionally, as if on vacation. The metaphor of cyberspace as a space, akin to “ real space, ”
breaks down in this respect. The technological mediation of these activities changes
some things — for instance, the technology brings with it specifi c affordances for the
activist in getting her word out and the spy in snooping on Internet traffi c as it
passes — but it does not change the underlying dynamics of states, companies, individuals, and groups.
In accordance with this deep immersion, we are seeing cyberspace contests playing
themselves out among institutions at all levels of society, including within those not
otherwise known for extensive technical fi ltering practices. For example, although the
Philippines is not a country that has a national Internet-fi ltering regime, Erwin A.
Alampay, Joselito C. Olpoc, and Regina M. Hechanova show in chapter 6 how information controls in the country are exercised in a variety of institutions, such as places
of work and study, often with greater effect than if they were imposed by government
regulation. Likewise, chapter 4 by Heike Jensen, Jac sm Kee, Gayathri Venkiteswaran,
and Sonia Randhawa provides an insight into how long-standing social norms, in this
case those related to gender and sexuality, can affect cyberspace practices in a country
like Malaysia, where national-level Internet fi ltering is minimal. In chapter 3, Vee Vian
Thien takes a different tack on Malaysia, showing how heavy-handed state controls
in the traditional sector, combined with intimidation and arrests, have unintentionally bolstered resistance from the blogosphere.
Her analysis is mirrored to a certain degree in chapter 5 by Pirongrong Ramasoota
on cyberspace controls in Thailand. As Ramasoota shows, cyberspace contests are
15
governments (including, ironically, the United States itself) to develop and refi ne
offensive actions in cyberspace against adversaries, however they are defi ned.
There is an ongoing contest over what this hybrid environment will look like over
time and a growing realization of the battle ’ s stakes among all groups. Most importantly, as Deibert and Rohozinski argue, the contests reach down to the very inner
workings of the Internet architecture and call into question principles and protocols
that were once assumed away as noncontroversial as governments like China and
Russia assert their interests for a different vision of cyberspace.
In chapter 9, Milton Mueller provides an analysis of China ’ s international strategies
for cyberspace, a component of its Internet control regime that is often overlooked
but growing in importance. Unwilling to accept a cyberspace determined by others,
particularly as the number of Chinese Internet users expands, China is asserting a
more ambitious foreign policy for cyberspace. These strategies are naturally bumping
up against others ’ interests but also fi nding support from like-minded governments
and international organizations.
The growing centrality of online activities to life in general is the primary driver
of cyberspace contests. From the perspective of Internet users, online activity is
increasingly a part of everyday life — not a separate sphere to which they travel occasionally, as if on vacation. The metaphor of cyberspace as a space, akin to “ real space, ”
breaks down in this respect. The technological mediation of these activities changes
some things — for instance, the technology brings with it specifi c affordances for the
activist in getting her word out and the spy in snooping on Internet traffi c as it
passes — but it does not change the underlying dynamics of states, companies, individuals, and groups.
In accordance with this deep immersion, we are seeing cyberspace contests playing
themselves out among institutions at all levels of society, including within those not
otherwise known for extensive technical fi ltering practices. For example, although the
Philippines is not a country that has a national Internet-fi ltering regime, Erwin A.
Alampay, Joselito C. Olpoc, and Regina M. Hechanova show in chapter 6 how information controls in the country are exercised in a variety of institutions, such as places
of work and study, often with greater effect than if they were imposed by government
regulation. Likewise, chapter 4 by Heike Jensen, Jac sm Kee, Gayathri Venkiteswaran,
and Sonia Randhawa provides an insight into how long-standing social norms, in this
case those related to gender and sexuality, can affect cyberspace practices in a country
like Malaysia, where national-level Internet fi ltering is minimal. In chapter 3, Vee Vian
Thien takes a different tack on Malaysia, showing how heavy-handed state controls
in the traditional sector, combined with intimidation and arrests, have unintentionally bolstered resistance from the blogosphere.
Her analysis is mirrored to a certain degree in chapter 5 by Pirongrong Ramasoota
on cyberspace controls in Thailand. As Ramasoota shows, cyberspace contests are