The DOI matches its Crossref record.
Access Denied The Practice and Policy of Global Internet Filtering
Open accessAbstract
Internet filtering seems like an infringement of the civil liberties of all of us who use this free, public, unitary, global network of networks. But states have a strong argument that they have the right to control domestic matters, whether or not they occur in cyberspace, and there is often little that other states can do to influence them. The future of the Internet, if not all geopolitics, hangs in the balance.
Overview
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“First, in financial terms, they are costly to develop and maintain,14 and even if offered free at the point of use, their costs are ultimate borne by the consumer or taxpayer.15”
From Internet Filtering and Adolescent Exposure to Online Sexual Material (2018) · cites this paper as [15]
In the citing paper
“Digital and social media offer important new tools for social movements, activists, and state critics (1) as well as substantial avenues for expanding state surveillance and suppression of those same actors (2, 3).”
From Physical and virtual repertoires of contention (2022) · cites this paper as [3]
In the citing paper
“Nation states’ use of digital surveillance (Table 1, cell 2) is long-standing and well-documented (2, 3, 52).”
From Physical and virtual repertoires of contention (2022) · cites this paper as [3]
In the citing paper
“Corporate actions may also be compelled, whether through state ownership structures, domestic laws, or orders to private telecom companies, to restrict specific topics or cut access to citizens (2, 3, 130, 131).”
From Physical and virtual repertoires of contention (2022) · cites this paper as [3]
Citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Bertot, J. C., Jaeger, P. T., & Grimes, J. M. (2010) · Government Information Quarterly · doi:10.1016/j.giq.2010.03.001 · Cited by 2,451
Weaponized Interdependence: How Global Economic Networks Shape State Coercion
Farrell, H., & Newman, A. L. (2019) · International Security · doi:10.1162/isec_a_00351 · Cited by 1,879
How Social Media Facilitates Political Protest: Information, Motivation, and Social Networks
Jost, J. T., Barberá, P., Bonneau, R., Langer, M., Metzger, M., Nagler, J., Sterling, J., & Tucker, J. A. (2018) · Political Psychology · doi:10.1111/pops.12478 · Cited by 492
Theorizing the image for Security Studies
Hansen, L. (2011) · European Journal of International Relations · doi:10.1177/1354066110388593 · Cited by 468
Political Repression: Iron Fists, Velvet Gloves, and Diffuse Control
Earl, J. (2011) · Annual Review of Sociology · doi:10.1146/annurev.soc.012809.102609 · Cited by 445
After Egypt: The Limits and Promise of Online Challenges to the Authoritarian Arab State
Lynch, M. (2011) · Perspectives on Politics · doi:10.1017/s1537592711000910 · Cited by 388
Youmans, W. L., & York, J. C. (2012) · Journal of Communication · doi:10.1111/j.1460-2466.2012.01636.x · Cited by 376
Iran: Downside to the "Twitter Revolution"
Morozov, E. (2009) · Dissent · doi:10.1353/dss.0.0092 · Cited by 295
Empowering activists or autocrats? The Internet in authoritarian regimes
Rød, E. G., & Weidmann, N. B. (2015) · Journal of Peace Research · doi:10.1177/0022343314555782 · Cited by 290
The End of the Virtual : Digital Methods
Rogers, R. (2009) · Amsterdam University Press eBooks · doi:10.5117/9789056295936 · Cited by 289
(2011) · Cited by 368
Earl, J. (2022) · Science Advances · doi:10.1126/sciadv.abl8198 · Cited by 250
Risking Security: Policies and Paradoxes of Cyberspace Security
Deibert, R. J., & Rohozinski, R. (2010) · International Political Sociology · doi:10.1111/j.1749-5687.2009.00088.x · Cited by 203
Self-citationAgainst Sovereignty in Cyberspace
Mueller, M. (2019) · International Studies Review · doi:10.1093/isr/viz044 · Cited by 190
Manufacturing Consent in Cyberspace: China's “Fifty-Cent Army”
Han, R. (2015) · Journal of Current Chinese Affairs · doi:10.1177/186810261504400205 · Cited by 176
Where is the governance in Internet governance?
van Eeten, M. J. G., & Mueller, M. (2012) · New Media & Society · doi:10.1177/1461444812462850 · Cited by 166
Defending the Authoritarian Regime Online: China's “Voluntary Fifty-cent Army”
Han, R. (2015) · The China Quarterly · doi:10.1017/s0305741015001216 · Cited by 154
Dissent in numbers: making strong anonymity scale
Wolinsky, D. I., Corrigan-Gibbs, H., Ford, B., & Johnson, A. (2012) · Infoscience (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) · doi:10.5555/2387880.2387898 · Cited by 162
Howard, P. N., Agarwal, S. D., & Hussain, M. (2011) · The Communication Review · doi:10.1080/10714421.2011.597254 · Cited by 187
Digital Threats to Democracy: Comparative Lessons and Possible Remedies
Miller, M. L., & Vaccari, C. (2020) · The International Journal of Press/Politics · doi:10.1177/1940161220922323 · Cited by 172
How Dictators Control the Internet: A Review Essay
Keremoğlu, E., & Weidmann, N. B. (2020) · Comparative Political Studies · doi:10.1177/0010414020912278 · Cited by 131
Geographies of global Internet censorship
Warf, B. (2010) · GeoJournal · doi:10.1007/s10708-010-9393-3 · Cited by 124
Language, Literacy, and Technology
Kern, R. (2015) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9781139567701 · Cited by 138
Gohdes, A. R. (2015) · Journal of Peace Research · doi:10.1177/0022343314551398 · Cited by 118
Youth and Digital Media: From Credibility to Information QualityPreprint
Gasser, U., Cortesi, S., Malik, M. M., & Lee, A. (2012) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.2005272 · Cited by 125
Authoritarianism Online: What Can We Learn from Internet Data in Nondemocracies?
Greitens, S. C. (2013) · PS Political Science & Politics · doi:10.1017/s1049096513000346 · Cited by 111
A Cyberwar of Ideas? Deterrence and Norms in Cyberspace
Stevens, T. (2012) · Contemporary Security Policy · doi:10.1080/13523260.2012.659597 · Cited by 68
The Internet and Public Policy
Margetts, H. Z. (2009) · Policy & Internet · doi:10.2202/1944-2866.1029 · Cited by 111
Was heißt digitale Souveränität?
Glasze, G., Odzuck, E. H., & Staples, R. (2022) · Politik in der digitalen Gesellschaft · doi:10.1515/9783839458273 · Cited by 110
The Politics of Platform Regulation
Gorwa, R. (2024) · doi:10.1093/oso/9780197692851.001.0001 · Cited by 106
A Wired World: The Evolving Geography of Submarine Cables and the Shift to Asia
Malecki, E. J., & Wei, H. (2009) · Annals of the Association of American Geographers · doi:10.1080/00045600802686216 · Cited by 94
Farrell, H. J., & Newman, A. L. (2021) · International Organization · doi:10.1017/s0020818320000302 · Cited by 95
Jafarkarimi, H., Saadatdoost, R., Sim, A. T. H., & Hee, J. M. (2016) · Computers in Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2016.04.024 · Cited by 109
Toward a Human-Centric Approach to Cybersecurity
Deibert, R. J. (2018) · Ethics & International Affairs · doi:10.1017/s0892679418000618 · Cited by 87
Self-citationDutton, W. H., Dopatka, A., Hills, M., et al. (2010) · Cited by 82
Political Change in the Digital Age: The Fragility and Promise of Online Organizing
Etling, B., Faris, R., & Palfrey, J. G. (2010) · The SAIS review of international affairs · doi:10.1353/sais.2010.0016 · Cited by 81
Self-citation(2018) · Alexandria (UniSG) (University of St.Gallen) · Cited by 75
A comparative study of online privacy regulations in the U.S. and China
Wu, Y., Lau, T., Atkin, D. J., & Lin, C. A. (2011) · Telecommunications Policy · doi:10.1016/j.telpol.2011.05.002 · Cited by 67
Digital authoritarianism: a systematic literature review
Roberts, T., & Oosterom, M. (2025) · Information Technology for Development · doi:10.1080/02681102.2024.2425352 · Cited by 74
Journalists or activists? Self-identity in the Ethiopian diaspora online community
Skjerdal, T. (2011) · Journalism · doi:10.1177/1464884911405471 · Cited by 69
Public Health in the Information Age: Recognizing the Infosphere as a Social Determinant of Health
Morley, J., Cowls, J., Taddeo, M., & Floridi, L. (2020) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/19311 · Cited by 74
Non-State Actors in Cyberspace Operations
Sigholm, J. (2013) · Journal of Military Studies · doi:10.1515/jms-2016-0184 · Cited by 64
Network dynamics and new ventures in China: A longitudinal study
Batjargal, B. (2010) · Entrepreneurship and Regional Development · doi:10.1080/08985620802628864 · Cited by 64
Cyber-Nationalism in China: Challenging Western media portrayals of internet censorship in China
Jiang, Y. (2012) · doi:10.1017/9780987171894 · Cited by 63
E-Bandits in Global Activism: WikiLeaks, Anonymous, and the Politics of No One
Wong, W. H., & Brown, P. A. (2013) · Perspectives on Politics · doi:10.1017/s1537592713002806 · Cited by 61
CensMon: A Web Censorship Monitor
Athanasopoulos, E., Ioannidis, S., & Sfakianakis, A. (2011) · Foundations of Computational Intelligence · Cited by 60
Repression in the Digital Age: Surveillance, Censorship, and the Dynamics of State Violence
Gohdes, A. R. (2024) · Oxford University Press · doi:10.1093/oso/9780197743577.001.0001 · Cited by 59
Internet freedom and social media effects: democracy and citizen attitudes in Latin America
Gainous, J., Wagner, K. M., & Gray, T. J. (2016) · Online Information Review · doi:10.1108/oir-11-2015-0351 · Cited by 59
Park, J. C., & Crandall, J. R. (2010) · IEEE International Conference on Distributed Computing Systems (ICDCS) · doi:10.1109/icdcs.2010.46 · Cited by 51
Characterizing Web Censorship Worldwide
Gill, P., Crete‐Nishihata, M., Dalek, J., et al. (2015) · ACM Transactions on the Web · doi:10.1145/2700339 · Cited by 48
On the risks of serving whenever you surf
McLachlan, J., & Hopper, N. (2009) · ACM Workshop on Privacy in the Electronic Society (WPES) · doi:10.1145/1655188.1655193 · Cited by 45
Real people, virtual places, and the spaces in between
Malecki, E. J. (2016) · Socio-Economic Planning Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.seps.2016.10.008 · Cited by 47
Digital sovereignty and artificial intelligence: a normative approach
Roberts, H. (2024) · Ethics and Information Technology · doi:10.1007/s10676-024-09810-5 · Cited by 60
“…limits a state’s ability to control the information reaching its citizenry, leaving them subject to foreign influences and thus undermining control (Deibert et al., 2008); and state capacity to regulate economic activity is undermined on account of the difficulty of controlling companies located…”
Tracing the route of China’s Internet censorship: An empirical study
Feng, G. C., & Guo, S. Z. (2012) · Telematics and Informatics · doi:10.1016/j.tele.2012.09.002 · Cited by 45
Nodes and Gravity in Virtual Space
Murray, A. D. (2011) · Legisprudence · doi:10.5235/175214611797885684 · Cited by 40
Benghozi, P., Bureau, S. P., & Massit-Folléa, F. (2009) · Éditions de la Maison des sciences de l’homme eBooks · doi:10.4000/books.editionsmsh.78 · Cited by 39
Civil Society, Democratic Space, and Social Work
Jaysawal, N. (2013) · SAGE Open · doi:10.1177/2158244013504934 · Cited by 38
Freedom of information reform in China: information flow analysis
Xiao, W. (2013) · International Review of Administrative Sciences · doi:10.1177/0020852313500598 · Cited by 38
The technology we choose to create: Human rights advocacy in the Internet Engineering Task Force
Cath, C. (2021) · Telecommunications Policy · doi:10.1016/j.telpol.2021.102144 · Cited by 43
Internet Censorship Circumvention Tools: Escaping the Control of the Syrian Regime
Al-Saqaf, W. (2016) · Media and Communication · doi:10.17645/mac.v4i1.357 · Cited by 41
Confronting the Internet's Dark Side: Moral and Social Responsibility on the Free Highway
Cohen‐Almagor, R. (2015) · Cited by 36
(2016) · Cited by 33
Google Politics: The Political Determinants of Internet Censorship in Democracies
Meserve, S. A., & Pemstein, D. (2017) · Political Science Research and Methods · doi:10.1017/psrm.2017.1 · Cited by 35
A Storm of Tweets: Social Media Manipulation During the Gulf Crisis
Leber, A. M., & Abrahams, A. (2019) · Review of Middle East Studies · doi:10.1017/rms.2019.45 · Cited by 32
Daucé, F., & Musiani, F. (2021) · First Monday · doi:10.5210/fm.v26i5.11685 · Cited by 29
The Politics of Technology in Africa
Gagliardone, I. (2016) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781316823149 · Cited by 59
Breindl, Y., & Kuellmer, B. (2013) · Journal of Information Technology & Politics · doi:10.1080/19331681.2013.803947 · Cited by 28
Google Earth and the nation state
Kumar, S. (2010) · Global Media and Communication · doi:10.1177/1742766510373716 · Cited by 28
Current initiatives, barriers, and opportunities for networked learning in Latin America
Romero‐Hall, E. (2021) · Educational Technology Research and Development · doi:10.1007/s11423-021-09965-8 · Cited by 27
Censorship and Surveillance in the Digital Age: The Technological Challenges for Academics
Tanczer, L. M., McConville, R., & Maynard, P. (2016) · Journal of Global Security Studies · doi:10.1093/jogss/ogw016 · Cited by 27
Three researchers, five conjectures: An empirical analysis of tom-Skype censorship and surveillance
Knockel, J., Crandall, J. R., & Saia, J. (2011) · Cited by 27
Power Technology and Powerful Technologies: Global Governmentality and Security in the Cyberspace
Radu, R. G. (2013) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-642-37481-4_1 · Cited by 28
Restricting digital sites of dissent: commercial social media and free expression
Hintz, A. (2016) · Critical Discourse Studies · doi:10.1080/17405904.2016.1141695 · Cited by 27
Citizenship in the age of the Internet: a comparative analysis of Britain and Turkey
Polat, R. K., & Pratchett, L. (2013) · Citizenship Studies · doi:10.1080/13621025.2013.780765 · Cited by 24
Burri, M. (2010) · International Journal of Cultural Property · doi:10.1017/s0940739110000032 · Cited by 24
Governmental filtering of websites: The Dutch case
Stol, W., Kaspersen, H. W. K., Kerstens, J., et al. (2009) · Computer law & security review · doi:10.1016/j.clsr.2009.03.002 · Cited by 24
Health system reform and political participation on the Chinese Internet
Balla, S. J. (2014) · China Information · doi:10.1177/0920203x14525915 · Cited by 23
The Hermit Kingdom in cyberspace: unveiling the North Korean internet
Warf, B. (2014) · Information Communication & Society · doi:10.1080/1369118x.2014.940363 · Cited by 22
A tool for liberty or oppression? A cross-national study of the Internet’s influence on democracy
Nam, T. (2016) · Telematics and Informatics · doi:10.1016/j.tele.2016.11.004 · Cited by 22
Online Surveillance, Censorship, and Encryption in Academia
Tanczer, L. M., Deibert, R. J., Bigo, D., Franklin, M. I., Melgaço, L. D. M., Lyon, D., Kazansky, B., & Milan, S. (2019) · International Studies Perspectives · doi:10.1093/isp/ekz016 · Cited by 27
Self-citationDutton, W. H. (2023) · doi:10.1093/oso/9780190688363.001.0001 · Cited by 20
Trends in transition from classical censorship to Internet censorship : selected country overviews
Bitso, C., Fourie, I., & Bothma, T. (2013) · UpSpace Institutional Repository (University of Pretoria) · Cited by 20
Education, the formation of self and the world of Web 2.0
Seery, A. (2010) · London Review of Education · doi:10.1080/14748460903557779 · Cited by 20
The Power of Radical Islamist Ideas in Fragile States in Parts of Sub-Saharan Africa
Ousman, A. (2012) · OECD development co-operation working papers · doi:10.1787/5k49dffw7r7d-en · Cited by 20
“While 81% of universities in Sudan are Internet equipped, most (65%) still use dialup connections (Diebert, 2008).”
Using Social Media in an Open Distance Learning Teaching Practice Course
van Wyk, M. M. (2014) · Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences · doi:10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n4p370 · Cited by 19
Internet Censorship in Liberal Democracies: Learning from Autocracies?
Busch, A., Theiner, P., & Breindl, Y. (2018) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-61708-4_2 · Cited by 16
Hu, H. L. (2011) · The China Quarterly · doi:10.1017/s0305741011000634 · Cited by 19
Fighting Hate and Bigotry on the Internet
Cohen‐Almagor, R. (2011) · Policy & Internet · doi:10.2202/1944-2866.1059 · Cited by 203
Digital Ethics: Its Nature and Scope
Floridi, L., Cath, C., & Taddeo, M. (2019) · Digital ethics lab yearbook · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-17152-0_2 · Cited by 31
Jørgensen, R. F. (2013) · Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks · doi:10.4337/9781782540809 · Cited by 32
Hoffmann, A. L. (2018) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.aat8179 · Cited by 18
Internet Filtering and Adolescent Exposure to Online Sexual Material
Przybylski, A. K., & Nash, V. (2018) · Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking · doi:10.1089/cyber.2017.0466 · Cited by 18
Antonio, J. M. A. (2021) · Estudios Internacionales · doi:10.5354/0719-3769.2021.57067 · Cited by 32
Johnson, E., & Kolko, B. E. (2010) · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · doi:10.5281/zenodo.14706494 · Cited by 17
Bypassing Censorship: A Proven Tool against the Recent Internet Censorship in Turkey
Florio, A. D., Verde, N. V., Villani, A., et al. (2014) · IEEE International Symposium on Software Reliability Engineering Workshops (ISSREW) · doi:10.1109/issrew.2014.93 · Cited by 17
Cyber Security and Middle Power Diplomacy
Kim, S. (2014) · The Korean Journal of International Studies · doi:10.14731/kjis.2014.12.12.2.323 · Cited by 14
Making sense of internet censorship
Burnett, S., & Feamster, N. (2013) · ACM SIGCOMM Computer Communication Review · doi:10.1145/2500098.2500111 · Cited by 16
Ding, S. (2009) · Journal of Information Technology & Politics · doi:10.1080/19331680802681857 · Cited by 16
Authoritarianism and the Internet
Druzin, B. H., & Gordon, G. S. (2017) · Law & Social Inquiry · doi:10.1111/lsi.12301 · Cited by 17
Internet Filtering Technology and Aversive Online Experiences in Adolescents
Przybylski, A. K., & Nash, V. (2017) · The Journal of Pediatrics · doi:10.1016/j.jpeds.2017.01.063 · Cited by 11
Metadata
- Authors
- Deibert, R., Palfrey, J., Rohozinski, R., & Zittrain, J. L.
- Venue
- CrimRxiv
- Publisher
- Knowledge Futures
- Published
- 2008-02-01
- OpenAlex
- W2138011829
- Cited by
- 358
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 22 · 2023: 52 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 14 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 28 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 19 · 2015: 24 · 2014: 26 · 2013: 25 · 2012: 30
- Type
- posted content
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- CrimRxiv (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Project Muse (Johns Hopkins University) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Cybersecurity and Cyber Warfare Studies
- Social Sciences › Law › Freedom of Expression and Defamation
- Social Sciences › Law › Digitalization, Law, and Regulation
- Keywords
- internet filtering, civil liberties, internet governance, geopolitics, censorship, freedom of expression
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
