Opinion

Internet's geopolitical firewalls are a backward step

Fragmentation of the internet is a reversal of globalisation and the principles of free and open trade, the features of which allowed the US, China and other market economies around the Asia-Pacific to grow into economic powerhouses.

Paul Haskell-DowlandContributor

Updated Aug 31, 2020 – 3.43pm, first published at 3.41pm

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These are interesting times for Chinese tech companies. Tensions have been growing between various countries and Chinese-owned platforms over the past few months.

Most obvious is the spat between the US government and ByteDance, the Beijing-based owner of TikTok. But the United States is not the only government to have Chinese tech in the crosshairs.

Paul Haskell-Dowland is associate professor and associate dean (Computing and Security) in the School of Science, Edith Cowan University, Perth.