Censorship of Internet Needs Scrutiny

PROVO—The practice of censoring the internet may soon be challenged by the World Trade Organization. At issue is the obstruction or restriction of services to internet users worldwide. According to a report released by Reuters, “a WTO ruling could set limits on blanket censorship and compel states instead to use more selective filtering.”
(See WTO Challenge.)

Many countries censor the internet on political or moral grounds, including the United States and China. For example, “China has developed one of the most pervasive systems, in Cuba all unauthorized surfing is illegal, and many Western countries limit access to child porn sites,” according to the report.

Since internet censorship has a significant impact on business, the WTO challenge is welcomed. For instance, in China, it is suspected that Google searches are being rerouted under the direction of Chinese officials en mass to the Chinese search engine Baidu, stealing billions of dollars of search revenue in the process. (Compare www.google.com to www.baidu.com and take note of the design similarities.) In Japan, 90% of the search engine market has been usurped by foreign-owned entities.

In Antiqua, United States laws related to online gambling were recently challenged and decided in favor of Antiqua. (See Online Gambling Dispute.) As a retaliatory measure, the WTO decision suspended intellectual property rights of firms in the United States, setting the stage for increased clout for smaller countries grappling with restrictions from larger ones.