BARRIERS TO INFORMATION MOBILITY

Although mass media create the potential for the almost instant diffusion of information over very large areas, this potential can be greatly impeded and slowed if access is limited or denied. Access to the Internet is a case in point. Though older forms of mass communication, such as television and newspapers, are unlikely to disappear, an increasing proportion of people worldwide turn to the Internet. The shift in technology has created a so-called digital divide between those who have ready access to the Internet information stream and those who have limited or no access (Figure 2.38). Many factors contribute to the digital divide, but one of the most basic is lack of Internet infrastructure in many parts of the world. Thus, while information may diffuse globally on the Internet at near light speed, it is irrelevant to those without a computer and the infrastructure to connect. A historical analogy might be the invention of the printing press when most of the world’s population was illiterate.

Recognition of the digital divide and potential solutions have arisen and spread quickly, precisely because information moves around the globe at great speed. New initiatives meant to address the gap spring up continually. For example, the Digital Divide Institute operates as a policy think tank to advise companies and governments on solutions and Pew Research conducts surveys on who does and does not use the Internet and why. The Internet has both exacerbated socioeconomic inequalities and allowed for a rapid response to try to correct them.

Governmental Bans on Technology In addition to the existing inequalities in Internet access, governments around the world periodically implement technology bans that have the effect of limiting the diffusion of information and ideas (Figure 2.39). For years Cuba banned cell phones, fearing that citizens would have access to information unfavorable to the government. A huge black market in cell phones forced the government to lift the ban in 2008. The government of the Czech Republic in 2010 banned the use of Google’s Street View technology over privacy concerns. It has since lifted the ban after negotiating very strict rules on how Google is allowed to use the technology. The United Arab Emirates briefly banned the BlackBerry in 2010 because the device’s encryption makes it difficult for governments to monitor content for what they consider objectionable material. Though all these bans were ultimately lifted, they suggest that governments will continue to try to limit or control the diffusion of information across nation-state borders.