Is the Internet really regulated?

The sheer size of the internet and its place in modern society has made it extremely difficult to regulate. Laws of privacy and piracy are broken regularly. In the United States, the right to complain and gossip about politicians is protected under the constitution. Any effort by political parties to control such discussion would be answered with loud public criticism, something politicians don't actively seek out.

Such is not the case in a country like China or other dictatorships in the Middle East. These occasionally squash out vocal bloggers with violence or by blocking access to them. China is rumored to have the largest amount of incarcerated journalists and an Internet police force of 30,000 commentators and monitors of online discussion. Since the Internet was a major tool for rebellions in countries in the Middle East, some governments have responded strongly to Internet political discussion. A report regarding Bahrain's Internet regulation states that, "Bahrain offers a perfect example of successful crackdowns, with an information blackout achieved through an impressive arsenal of repressive measures: exclusion of the foreign media, harassment of human rights defenders, arrests of bloggers and netizens (one of whom died behind bars), prosecutions and defamation campaigns against free expression activists, disruption of communications." With communications made more difficult than ever, life and hope for change isn't getting any easier for the people in these countries.

Some control is exercised in the United States. Take for example the recent case of a marine sergeant who faced dismissal due to his political webpage. The Facebook group was called the, "Armed Forces Tea Party" and was openly critical of Barack Obama. Plenty such pages exist without problem in the U.S. but the difference for this man was his military status. As a member of the military, he is barred from political activities. The president is his commander in chief, a man whose commands he must obey in times of emergency for the sake of the country. The reprimand the marine has received over his page has caused debate regarding the right to expression.

Still, Internet regulation is rare. Even in the dominated countries of the Middle East, Internet discussion is what fueled revolutions that threw off terrible leaders. Chinese activists are not deterred and continue to do what they consider their duty. Despite efforts to silence rebels on and offline, the revolution continues. In countries like the United States, the freedom already exercised would be extremely difficult to completely take over at this point. Free speech is a flood even government control seems unable to stop. Is political content on the Internet largely unregulated? Considering that 25% of Internet users are Chinese, I wouldn't say that's completely true. There are many exceptions, but for the most part, governments have not yet effectively completely regulated Internet commentators.

Sources:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/story/2012-03-22/marine-obama-facebook-free-speech/53697996/1
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/03/20123136140551889.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2005/jun/14/newmedia.china#article_continue