Page 127 - Cyber Defense eMagazine January 2024

opposition, and even complete internet blackouts in contested territories. We are already seeing this
today, in conflict zones from Russia to Gaza, and in the pre-emptive steps which superpowers like China
and America are taking to control an evolving digital battlefield.

But although the fog of war can seem impenetrable, citizens can still stand up for their online freedoms
in times of global conflict. And as we continue to advocate for a free and open internet, we must remember
the promise of the internet as an emancipatory tool – a means of lifting that fog, rather than just another
battlefield liable to become lost in it.

Freedom Under Fire

The first casualty of war, as the saying goes, is truth. This has certainly been the case in Russia, where
the state continues to take extensive steps to prevent its own citizens from learning the truth about its
ongoing war in Ukraine.

Since the invasion, Russian regulators have censored social media and blocked access to any news
websites which refused to follow the Kremlin’s official lines on the ‘special military operation.’ Online
freedom campaigners at Citizen Lab have estimated that social media censorship increased thirtyfold in
Russia in the wake of the invasion. Among countless others, Facebook, Instagram, and the BBC News
website have all been restricted in the name of security. This amounts to the imposition of a digital Iron
Curtain, making it difficult for citizens in Russia and occupied Ukraine to get a clear and unbiased picture
of the war which is supposedly being carried out in their name.

In response, thousands of Russian citizens have turned to VPNs to circumvent local internet restrictions
and inform themselves about the ongoing war. Yet this situation is sadly not unique to Russia. In
authoritarian states across the globe, the imposition of online restrictions is a common and growing
danger. And as global tensions escalate, restrictions could become more sweeping and more
widespread, further threatening the promise of a free and open internet.

The Digital Battlefield

Wars are no longer contested merely on land, at sea, and in the skies. Modern warfare has evolved to
view the contested spaces of the internet as a new front, and conflicts between nation states are as likely
to take place in foreign cyberspace as on foreign soil.

Under the auspices of national security – or even existential self-preservation – warring states are liable
to weaponise the internet by enforcing restrictions both at home and overseas. This may take the form
of increased internet surveillance, which threatens freedom of speech and privacy, or else states may try
to throttle internet speeds or cut off access altogether in a contested or hostile territory. Since Russia’s
invasion, Ukraine has been the victim of cyberattacks targeting its digital and physical infrastructure –
and many of Ukraine’s allies, including the UK, have raised the alarm about the possibility of Russian
cyberattacks elsewhere.

Cyber Defense eMagazine – January 2024 Edition 127
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