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Running head: Literature Review

Literature Review

Ivan Kihara Jr.

Due Date: August 5, 2018

Rhetoric & Composition 2

University of Texas at El Paso

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Literature Review

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to address the issues of and surrounding Internet Governance. The

internet has been a constant changing platform affecting people internationally. The internet can

be used for many different functions and can have and provide many benefits but can also be

harmful depending on how or for what it is used. There are several developing countries that to

this day do not have access to the internet. Their access to internet is either nonexistent or

limited. Cultures and laws have an impact on the use of the internet as well. The different

platforms that are part of the Internet all incorporate different ideas and change over time to

adapt to society. This paper will help the reader understand the origins of the internet and all its

functions. Furthermore this paper will also identify the different cultures and their uses of the

internet and the how laws affect it.

Introduction

Internet governance has been the discussion on many newscasts and among political figures such

as President Trump and Putin with Russian interference with the United States presidential

elections of 2016. The internet is used for many reasons and by many people. In this scenario, it

is focused on government use but it is not limited to such, as people around the globe use the

internet for other functions. The internet began to expand after the creation of the World Wide

Web. Engineer Sir Tim Berners-Lee is considered the "Father of the modern Internet" because of

his fundamental contributions to the World Wide Web architecture. He is also the director of the

World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), which oversees the Web's continued development, and is

also the founder of the World Wide Web Foundation. After the development of the World Wide
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Literature Review

Web the internet was becoming a place that people were able to use with more facility. “The

years between 1995 and 2000 confirmed the importance of the Internet as a tool for

development.” (Dias & Veiga, 2010) According to this article after six years of the creation of

the World Wide Web the Internet was highly used for development.

Through the following questions this topic can be analyzed and understood at greater lengths:

 What is Internet Governance defines the issue of Internet Governance?

 What impact will Internet Governance have on countries worldwide?

 Do certain countries have better Internet policies than others?

 Should the Internet be governed by a collective group of stockholders? Or should it be

governed individually by each country?

Review of Literature

What is Internet Governance and what defines the issue of Internet Governance?

There is not a clear definition of what Internet Governance is, many websites and articles have

their own definition. Overall the idea of Internet Governance is having certain policies that

define who would be the country or countries that control the Internet. Through a study

conducted in primary research with different age groups the conclusion was very astonishing as

to the amount of people in each age group that knew what Internet Governance was. The

following figure shows the amount by percentage of people that knew what Internet Governance

is:
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Literature Review

There are many issues relating to internet governance but it all focuses on the idea or agreement

between countries on how the internet should be controlled worldwide. Since this concept of

governing the internet was developed by the United Nations the participating countries for any

laws or policies would be from and through the countries who are members of the U.N.

An issue that is directly related to the discussion of who and how it will be governed is how

much access and surveillance should countries have on internet information and usage. This is a

worldwide issue that people and countries who use the internet often should be a part of with

decisions on policy and laws. In the past years there has been several different meetings to

discuss this issue, the main focus of summits and meeting that are done throughout the world are

to gather thoughts and ideas from different countries to come to a consensus. This consensus

would be the decision on how and by who the internet should be governed by. There has been a

great debate on who should govern the internet because countries such as the United States have

come across scandals of tampering information and monitoring foreign leaders. Internet
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Literature Review

Governance was defined as “ the development and application by governments, the private sector

and civil society, in their respective roles, of shared principles, norms, rules, decision-making

procedures, and programs that shape the evolution and use of the internet." by the World Summit

on the Information Society. What these summits also want to accomplish is that private-sector

entities across the world along with governments set out policies that benefit both parties and

society as a whole, consequently, that it does not become an institutional hierarchy but rather a

joint effort by what can be considered the internet “stakeholders” and the Government.

What impact will Internet Governance have on countries worldwide?

There has been an ongoing discussion over who should govern the internet, this is a result of the

expansion of the internet and the stance of different countries. Every country has their own sets

of rules, policies and regulations. The discussion of Internet Governance begun with the United

Nations, they created summits and meeting to come to an agreement. he main focus of summits

and meeting that are done throughout the world are to gather thoughts and ideas from different

countries to come to a consensus. This consensus would be the decision on how and by who the

internet should be governed by. The internet can be governed by a specific group such as the

United Nations through the process of bringing all the countries that have internet access

together to have a discussion and come up with a conclusion. The issue can surely be changed

and resolved, certain countries are the ones that would prevent the issues to be resolved.

Do certain countries have better Internet policies than others?

Some countries shut down their internet at a certain time and the results on their youth are

astonishing. Other countries have no rules when it comes to the amount of time of usage. Actions
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Literature Review

to create simple and clear ways for everyone worldwide to be part of and also understand how

the internet is run is very important. Involving everyone who uses the internet will allow for

clear policies that are fair across the board for all parties. There has been a model that has been

established by United Nations known as the “multi-stakeholder approach”. There are several

different policies that have been created through this approach separate from Internet

Governance. It is simply a way of involving everyone in the policy creation and determining the

future of the internet. The people involved in the internet are the following: Government, Users

(Citizens), and Business Owners (Including Social Media Platforms. The Users who can

typically be referred to as citizens of each country which can include people that use it for

information such as students, people who are consumers of an internet product and those who

use it for facetime (video calls), audio, chats, and messages. Business can be referred to those

whose sole business is done through the internet such as Google, Facebook, Amazon, snapchat,

etc. Platforms like Google and Facebook were created and expanded overtime, both were created

by students. The internet allows for young, old and all ages of entrepreneurs to begin their own

business. In the United States and other countries such as Canada and France the use of social

media is growing. With the amount of people using social media it gives companies and

organizations the opportunity to expand and reach their customers. The different social media

platforms help to increase the revenue and growth of a company. The increasing amount of

views within these platforms allows for a greater visibility of a specific brand. Because of an

increase usage of social media, more and more businesses are turning to social media to promote

their products or services. It is truly important for any business to have social media presence

because it increases the possibility for them to have a stronger presence in the community

allowing an expansion in revenue and growth. Overall, there are many places to advertise online
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Literature Review

and in print, the target audience would be the main deciding factor in deciding where to

advertise. Even if a business decided to advertise on a billboard or a search engine it is important

to attempt and create social media pages or accounts to increase visibility and brand recognition.

The Governments of different countries are also a user of the internet which they use to transmit

and collect information. One prime example would be the use of the internet to file taxes. It also

allows for citizens to be involved in overseeing the governments online. The World Wide Web

has had a tremendous impact in the lives of many people on earth. It allowed for a connection

and storage of information that could be shared by many. Many people have the misconception

that the internet is the same thing as the world wide web, which is incorrect. The World Wide

Web is where people can look can look up information through the internet. The contributions

of Engineer Sir Tim Berners-Lee have truly revolutionized how people do things every day.

Many people would go into the world wide web to look up something they are not sure of or

want to know more about. Because of the invention of the World Wide Web by Sir Tim Berners-

Lee companies like google have been created. These search engines allow for a quicker search

and find of information in the web. Creating worldwide policies through the involvement of all

these parties would allow for an organized internet that would be cleared from flaws,

complications and injustice. Everyone who uses the internet should voice their concerns and

come to a clear agreement of such policies.

Should the Internet be governed by a collective group of stockholders? Or should it be

governed individually by each country?

The Internet cannot truly be governed in all aspects through a hierarchy but it sure can be

regulated through governments worldwide. The internet can be used for many different functions
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Literature Review

and can be good and bad depending on how or for what it is used. There are several developing

countries that to this day do not have access to the internet. Their access to internet is either

nonexistent or limited. Cultures and laws have an impact on the use of the internet as well. Many

people would disagree with the whole idea of Internet Governance, with a point of view

expressing that the internet should be free for all without any restrictions. Although this could be

the case in many countries it is not that way in the United States. Each state has a set of rules and

regulations on internet usage. There has been several summits and meetings to determine how

the internet should be governed but unfortunately not all countries have been in favor of

supporting such plans. If there is no action on this issue there could be a huge impact as there

could also be none. There is the difference between doing something about it now and doing

something about it in the future. The Internet will continue to grow, and different technological

advancements will begin to change the way we see the internet today. It is important to solve this

issue when it relates to governments and its citizens. Some governments manipulate the

information that is created by users online, this can range from social media to news articles.

These points are where the seriousness of the topic come into place.

Conclusion

Overall, there are many uses for the internet and people access it many times throughout the days

for personal use and work related. The governments worldwide use the internet for many

different aspects and to this day have different policies and regulations within their own

countries. It is important for countries to come together and come to a conclusion if it is

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necessary to form global policies or continue to have the internet as an open network as it is to

this date.