‘Extremely aggressive’ internet censorship spreads in the world’s democracies
The big problem in todays age is we can no longer assume the government is accountable to us,  or even get straight answers from the right people there.<p>Why can&#x27;t I ask someone at the government directly exactly what their policy is on blocking websites, which sites are blocked, and what the legal basis for blocking is? And get a real, detailed, authoritative answer? And contest that answer if it does not meet legal standards?<p>The current standard is far, far removed from that. They can block a site or surveil you without any realistic accountability. The legal system is technically a recourse, but that works only in horribly egregious cases like NSA spying revealed by Snowden, and after years of delay after the case has faded from public consciousness. Even that didn&#x27;t change anything about how the government acts today. And we would not have known about it if it hadn&#x27;t been for &quot;illegal&quot; whistleblowing.<p>When the average person can&#x27;t even get straight answers from the government about how they govern, let alone influence that policy, that is a failure of democracy. We are trying to solve problems in the democratic functioning of government using technology, but that will only ever be a cat and mouse game. These f<i></i><i></i> decided on their own that mass surveillance &amp; censorship is okay, and we are left trying to use technology to hide when we should be able to demand a national conversation about what kinds of surveillance is okay.