By Jacob Kamen
The creation and accessibility of the world wide web, beginning around 30 years ago, has transformed nearly every aspect of international communication. It introduced the fastest means ever of transmitting information, sending pulses that could theoretically travel at the speed of light. This enabling technology of the internet has since only improved, amassing 5.16 billion users as of January 2023. This global network and the rise of social media have assumed an important role in international affairs and the state of war. Of all internet users in January 2023, there were 4.76 billion social media users. These users, depending on the regulations of their respective countries, can freely interact with each other to transcend their own languages and ideas. As countries such as China and Iran impose some of the strictest internet restrictions in the world, it becomes the duty of the US and other nations with liberal internet access to act as global protectors and champions of internet freedom. There are two major ongoing political events happening outside the US that have captured the psyche of the American foreign relations analyst: the war in Ukraine and the social upheaval in Iran. Both are not new phenomena. Ukraine has been in active combat for over a year and has suffered nearly 10 years of hostilities following Ukraine’s Revolution of Dignity in 2014. In Iran, protests demanding regime change began last September after Mahsa Amini, a civilian woman, died in the custody of morality police who violently beat her. The Internet has played an increasingly substantial role in these developments by acting as a tool and pipeline for organized communication of marginalized groups. Freedom fighters have been able to use this to garner sympathy across the free world through reporting on the atrocities of war and protest suppression in Ukraine and Iran, respectively. Ukraine has steadily maintained a path towards greater democracy as they have sought to strengthen alignment with Europe and push further from Russia. According to Freedom House, Ukraine has an internet freedom score of 59/100, whereas Iran has a score of 16/100, with 1 being valued as no internet freedom, representing the ideals of the present governments in charge. This is a matter of US interest because internet freedom and accessibility are the greatest tools in creating an informed and modern populace, a crucial aspect of a strong democracy. So, as a nation built on the principles of democracy and one which has fought for these principles around the world, the US must fight heavily for the protection of the Internet. The war in Ukraine has been fought on two fronts: the eastern border with Russia and the world wide web. The Kremlin has continuously deployed false information and propaganda on popular social media sites, such as Facebook, to push their own narratives in Ukraine, Russia, and the surrounding world. Their strategy consists of pushing a high volume of discourse to ‘‘inflate the information space with multiple false theories and denials of what actually happened in order to make people disinterested.’” Their objectives have been combated by Meta and Google, owners of Facebook and YouTube, respectively. The defensive action taken by these companies has not been entirely effective, however, as Russian state media has been able to find ways around it to weaponize it against Ukrainian citizens. “As the big platforms have curbed the reach of Russia's official channels, there's been an uptick in covert activity linked to Russia.” As the greatest supporter of Ukraine in terms of total bilateral aid, the US has a duty to protect Ukrainian cyberspace in the midst of this war. On the other end of the situation, the Ukrainian government has also taken to the front lines of the internet during the war, posting memes for audiences at home and abroad. These sorts of appeals to the public have been successful in garnering support in a highly unconventional and new-age approach. Additionally, the people of Ukraine have utilized these same platforms to “fuel international cohesion and mobilize immense compassion” through sharing videos and images of war atrocities. Generating content in this manner has been effective worldwide to expose various aggressions. For the past six months, the people of Iran have used social media to organize mass protests against their theocratic regime. Though Teheran has complete control over all communications in Iran, people have managed to use VPNs to access unbiased news through the internet and communicate freely with others. They have been able to rally around the “Woman, Life, Freedom” cry to pose a serious threat to the regime, demanding social equality and greater democracy. The US has imposed a slew of sanctions against Iranian officials, but should instead divert a greater focus on securing internet access in the country in order to continue enabling this movement.
Within the last two years, Starlink, a US-based satellite internet constellation operated by SpaceX, has launched over 3,580 satellites into low-Earth orbit, providing internet access to regions around the world, including Ukraine. As an American company, it is within the interests of the US government to support and provide funding to Starlink in order to expand free access to regions with lower internet freedom, such as Iran. Starlink could, however, make it increasingly difficult for governments to regulate domestic internet policy. Additionally, people across the globe could see an exponential increase in orbiting satellites, which could negatively affect night-sky visibility. This would also grant unprecedented power to a private company, which is already owned by 2022’s richest man in the world, Elon Musk. Despite these issues, the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) space department has seemed eager to authorize Starlink with little regulation. This decision will lead to an expansion of internet freedom and access around the world, enabling the people of Ukraine and Iran to organize and fight against their oppressors.
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