Is the Internet Eroding State Sovereignty?

It’s now possible to share information in more accessible and quicker forms than ever before. But, how far has this affected the way we see national sovereignty, or how and when states should intervene in the affairs of other states?

Since the 1990s, events across the globe have demonstrated the changing nature of communication in relation to conflict, human rights and state sovereignty. Writing in 1998, a leading academic in the field of Law and the internet, Henry Perritt, believed that totalitarian regimes could no longer create a secure, unchallenged environment for themselves. He believed that it was impossible for them to control newspapers, television and radio stations, as they had done before, because the internet was “beyond their control and manipulation” (Perritt, 1998).

From 1998 to 1999, the conflict in Kosovo was one of the first to demonstrate the ways in which the internet could impact on conflict in this way. When the Serbian government shut down the Serbian opposition radio station, and jammed other forms of communication, the opposition forces turned to the internet. They used email and websites to exchange information, in text and audio files. It has been claimed that these communications kept the opposition message alive, bolstering the opposition within Serbia. But it also, crucially, kept the conflict central in the eyes of the international community (Perritt 1998).

Such examples prompted the then Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan to say:

”State sovereignty, in its most basic sense, is being redefined – not least by the forces of globalisation and international co-operation. States are now widely understood to be instruments at the service of their peoples, and not vice versa.” (Annan, 1999)

The ‘Arab Spring’ and social media

Reclaiming state sovereignty online

What is being agreed on a global scale?

What are your reactions to these ideas?

• What is your initial reaction to these ideas?
• Is this something you have thought about or read about before?

Take Action

WITNESS’ Video as Evidence Program is an important part of a collaborative, international effort to pioneer a set of practices around the use of video to increase accountability, justice and human rights for all people. As mobile phones and social media become primary tools to document human rights abuses, there is an increasing flood of videos that human rights groups hope will function to support criminal investigations and proceedings, but many of these videos seldom pass the higher bar needed to be used as evidence in a court of law. They also have a Video as Evidence Field Guide available online.

Annan, K. (2017). Two concepts of sovereignty. The Economist, Published 16 September 1999

Clelend, S. (2012) ‘Twitter’s Realpolitik and the Sovereignization of the Internet.’ Forbes, 12 January 2012

Dickinson, R. (2013). ‘Transformation of the modern state: State sovereignty and human rights in the internet age.’ Connecticut Journal of International Law 29(1), 51-70.

Kichenside, O. (2003). ‘Law of Globalisation: Here, There and Nowhere.’ UCL Jurisprudence Review 2003, 141–162.

Perritt, Henry H. Jr. (1998). ‘The Internet as a Threat to Sovereignty? Thoughts on the Internet’s Role in Strengthening National and Global Governance.’ Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies Vol. 5: Issue 2, Article 4. Provided Open Access by the Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies