Network topology facilitates internet traffic control in autocracies.

ABSTRACT: Recent years have seen an increase in governmental interference in digital communication. Most research on this topic has focused on the application level, studying how content is manipulated or removed on websites, blogs, or social media. However, in order for governments to obtain and maintain control of digital data flows, they need to secure access to the network infrastructure at the level of Internet service providers. In this paper, we study how the network topology of the Internet varies across different political environments, distinguishing between control at the level of individual Internet users (access) and a higher level in the hierarchy of network carriers (transit). Using a novel method to estimate the structure of the Internet from network measurements, we show that in aut

SUBMITTER: Keremoglu E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10904286 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature