Âé¶¹´«Ã½

Life

Interview: Over the internet border

By Ethan Zuckerman

17 January 2007

Âé¶¹´«Ã½. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

Ethan Zuckerman is concerned, but optimistic (New L/H Credit)

The internet recently passed a milestone: its billionth user ventured online. Yet the idea that we all work and play on a common global internet is merely an illusion. In reality, the web is becoming ever more fragmented, and international borders are increasingly visible online. More and more web pages are appearing in languages other than English. China has more than 130 million internet users and is starting to play by its own rules. Soon to follow are the Middle East, India, Russia and Brazil. Is the technology that we thought was uniting us really dividing us?…

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