The Arab Spring| Politics through Social Networks and Politics by Government Blocking: Do We Need New Rules?

Abstract

In order to combat the recent call of the (mainly) younger generation for democratization in many countries—in North Africa, especially—governments blocked Internet access by direct or indirect measures to shut down the free flow of information. Such political attempts raise the legal question of under what circumstances such governmental intervention would be justified. Therefore, the issue of shared responsibilities of states to preserve the Internet, both infrastructure and cross-border traffic, as a means to safeguard freedom of expression and access to information, regardless of frontiers, must be tackled.