The Internet Paradox

The Internet is a nearly-indestructible source of information. Individual countries have no power to shut the Internet down because it is a "global shared system", as described in Episode 2 of "The Virtual Revolution"; However, that doesn't mean they don't try to.
Back in 2009, after the allegedly rigged election in Iran, the Twitter-sphere lit up with messages from half a million opposition supporters within the country, describing the events that had begun to take place after the election, including protests. Considering all media reporting inside the country had been banned, individuals were able to link up with users in other countries through Twitter and the Internet so that their struggles were broadcast and became widespread. These tweets, over 2 million within 18 days, as well as several graphic videos posted, became a wake-up call for outsiders, and a means of communication so that they could find out how to take action from the people living in Iran at the time. For example, when a video was posted of a young Iranian women in her final moments of life after she had been shot, people were outraged and felt it necessary to avenge her death. Things happened so quickly and even if there was nothing outsiders could do, having that connection to people inside Iran and being able to say "Hey, we see this, and we're here for you even if your government isn't" really strengthened a bond between different countries and races and cultures that may not have otherwise occurred.

The Web also enables users to route around censorship, and that is one way that it can divide us in a political context. Because of the luxuries we are used to in this country, it may seem totally outrageous to us that countries such as China and Iran moderate their Internet so heavily. For example, a man named Austin Heap created an encryption software called Haystack that allows users to bypass sites their government may have blocked. In the case of Iran, such sites as Facebook and Twitter were blocked after the massive uproar post-election. Haystack is secure and cannot be filtered, and there is no way to trace it back to its users, hence its name. This may seem harmless because it is allowing users in such countries to connect with us, but as so perfectly stated by David Runciman, "[The Web] makes various forms of national politics irrelevant because people can bypass them,". Undermining governments that aren't our own only results in harsher repercussions for the people within those countries.