READER RESPONSE DRAFT 2

In the article “Who the true enemy of internet freedom -China, Russia or the U.S”, Morozov (2015) asserts that though Russia and China restrict internet freedom to maintain their technological sovereignty on their land, it is the U.S that exploits internet freedom to assert its digital sovereignty globally. Not just Russia and China, but other countries like Brazil also take actions to reduce their dependence on American-run communication services. And Morozov also points out that these actions are condemned by the U.S. It is reported in the article that the U.S have great interest in the information that are serviced by their companies but stored elsewhere. Finally the author concludes that countries are imposing stricter internet censorship and control over their citizens’ data not just in response to domestic tension, but concerning the growing technological supremacy of the U.S. I strongly agree with the author’s assertion. However I would further go by adding that the U.S does not only exert its supremacy in technology but in many other areas. But on the whole, it appears that the U.S leads the world, through its influence, in the right way.

The United States is a powerful country. Through its diplomatic ways, it is able to influence world’s politics, power, military and many more. Like what Morozov points out in his article, the American companies aim to only give the best services that cannot be easily replaced by other companies abroad. It is an heavy competitor in the market. Any country could have developed this much if they had used such strategies like the U.S. But will they return to the world as much they take? But the U.S seems to.

U.S invested money across the world. And thereby has huge inflow of wealth, of which a part was used to develop its powerful military. With its great influence in military and politics it has helped relieve tensions in many countries, particularly its allies. For example, when the Iraq tried to take over Kuwait in the 1990, the U.S sent its military troops in support of the smaller nation Kuwait. In 1950s to late 1900, it helped Vietnam to end communism, though it was not successful. Currently, the U.S along with other nations is taking serious actions to bring down the ISIS.

The world is facing many issues together, like the fuel shortage and the increase of terrorism and corruption. At this point of time, many might think that the U.S is taking advantage of its authoritative position by interfering into these issues. Indeed, I believe that the U.S is leading this world to solve the issues. For example, the U.S relaxed its military control over its storage of oil that has helped the oil prices to decrease in the recent times. Referring back to the article, Morozov tells us that the U.S urges internet freedom but exploits it to retrieve data serviced by its companies globally. But Morozov fails to tell us the reason for the Americans to do so. On one hand, internet freedom is slowly turning out to be a basic freedom, as many spend most of their time there. Such freedom, has helped people, in times of domestic problems, to share or report the actual situation and to summon for necessary help. On the other hand, internet freedom can also be used as a powerful tool by terrorists. This then necessitates for the data in the cyber world to be checked. In this point of time, I would like to suggest that several nations could come together and form a committee to handle retrieve and screen data with. And at the same time they should abide by strict rules to ensure the internet freedom.

(619 words)

 Reference:

Morozov, P. (2015, January 4). Who’s the true enemy of the internet freedom – China, Russia, or the U.S? The Guardian Retrieved from

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jan/04/internet-freedom-china-russia-us-google-microsoft-digital-sovereignty