iEurope: European Integration vs. Internet Fragmentation
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Ph.D. in Political Science, Director of the Applied Research Center and Russian Academy of Sciences Institute for U.S. and Canadian Studies, Assistant Professor of the Faculty of World Politics at Lomonosov Moscow State University, RIAC expert
In 2012, Harvard researcher Jonah Force Hill discovered an Internet trend he titled fragmentation, i.e. the drive toward the nationalization of the Internet within individual states, despite the information space’s global nature. There are plenty of examples of this, and proof that this phenomenon is taking place is abundant. Each state has its own domain, with statistical corroboration indicating that national websites are always more popular than foreign ones.
In 2012, Harvard researcher Jonah Force Hill discovered an Internet trend he titled fragmentation, i.e. the drive toward the nationalization of the Internet within individual states, despite the information space’s global nature.
There are plenty of examples of this, and proof that this phenomenon is taking place is abundant. Each state has its own domain, with statistical corroboration indicating that national websites are always more popular than foreign ones. The most controversial articles in the Wikipedia use own language-based sources, and the Russian and English entries on recent events in Ukraine are an excellent example of this. Global and universal Internet services are falling in number, with the niche increasingly occupied by national companies. Finally, each country is working hard to apply its own government regulation in the information field. These factors combine in the emergence of national frameworks even within what we know as the World Wide Web.
Similar processes have occurred in EU countries, with each member-state adopting legal norms matching their own national development priorities and establishing limits via government regulation.
As a result, regional integration, the most noticeable trend of European development suffers.
In 2012, Harvard researcher Jonah Force Hill discovered an Internet trend he titled fragmentation, i.e. the drive toward the nationalization of the Internet within individual states, despite the information space’s global nature.
The European Union seems the most appealing and successful example of regional integration, although its members’ national interests have often collided both vis-à-vis each other and the EU as a whole. Further, information policies have been basically dealt with on a national level rather than by Brussels.
Consequently, European Commissioner on Digital Economy and Society Günther Oettinger launched his Digital Single Market initiative. In May 2015, he published a 16-point plan for the creation of a single European market for information technologies and services. By late 2015, the European Union intends to establish electronic government institutions, unify national legislation on property rights, boost e-trade and take other measures to aid the creation of a single Europe-wide information space.
Information policies have been basically dealt with on a national level rather than by Brussels.
Bearing in mind current international trends, these steps seem absolutely logical and appropriate, although their implementation would require the resolution of numerous external and internal problems.
Domestically, the information policies of various EU members suffer from issues specific to the broader European integration process.
Externally, the key hurdle seems to lie in looming competition between the European single market and the United States. The Americans have historically managed numerous effective tools to occupy and control various elements in the global information space, including organizational and technological instruments to manage the Internet, leading positions in the global telecommunications market, and development of defensive and offensive information technologies for the military.
The U.S.A. unquestionably owns the world largest information potential, both in technology resources, as well as in high-quality knowledge and information generation. The European digital market does not seem fit enough to fend off this cutthroat competition. At the same time, consolidation of Europe’s information resources may bring a lot of good, unification of laws currently seeming the greatest benefit because this may produce a legal basis for the collective struggle against information-related threats and challenges.
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