07/17/2021 12:16 PM
Clarín.com
Technology
Updated 07/17/2021 12:17 PM
The president of the United States, Joe Biden, assured that his administration is studying ways to
restore internet access in Cuba
, a country that he described as a "failed state."
President Joe Biden's suggestion that the United States give Cuba full internet access could break new ground in digital rights, but it
faces significant technical and geopolitical obstacles.
The president's statement followed the statements of Republican Senator Marco Rubio and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, for whom Washington should implement satellites, balloons and access points offshore to provide unfiltered connectivity to Cuba.
"They have cut off access to the internet. We are considering whether we have the technological capacity to
restore that access
," Biden told reporters Thursday.
Human rights activists welcomed the idea of giving Cubans an unrestricted internet after
the island
government
cut applications and connection services
while facing strong internal protests.
Joe Biden, on Saturday in Philadelphia.
Reuters photo
"
I'm not sure how timely or easy that would be,
" said Milton Mueller, a professor at Georgia University of Technology and director of the Internet Governance Project, however.
"If the Cuban government cuts access there is no way to easily connect from a balloon or a drone."
Cuba has limited access to both fixed and mobile internet and has used other methods to filter online content with Chinese-made technology, said Gaspar Pisanu of the digital rights group Access Now.
"
They are removing people's ability to use mobile data by revoking their SIM cards
, censoring hashtags, blocking messages on
VPN,
" he said.
To circumvent limitations on the internet, activists resort to a variety of resources, including virtual private networks (VPNs),
"mesh networks"
that connect groups of computers, and techniques to conceal their activities, but none have been used on a large scale.
Satellite, drone and balloon internet services are in an early stage and are often accessed through official operators.
Cuba's possible response
The capitol of Havana, crossed by the protests of the citizens.
Photo EFE
But Havana is likely to view any effort to run an unfiltered internet as a violation of its sovereignty, notes the human rights group Freedom House.
"
The Cuban legal structure is not favorable to internet freedom
, and the country lacks an independent judicial system that can counteract the government's efforts to suppress independent activity online," said that association in its 2020 report.
"The Internet is a
basic human right in the digital age,
" said Darrell West, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution's Center for Technological Innovation.
Sebastián Arcos, associate director of the Cuban Research Institute at Florida International University, welcomed the intentions of Biden and others, and argued that "the Cuban regime abuses the concept of sovereignty"
to repress its population.
Cuba at the center of the protests this week.
AFP photo
But he noted that such an initiative "could be problematic given the history of the United States and Cuba."
An alternative internet plan
"would toughen the resistance of the Cuban government and give it an excuse
to affirm that it is an imperialist action by the United States," added Mueller.
Pisanu said his organization asked Cuba to fully restore connectivity,
without promoting an alternative internet.
Source: AFP (Rob Lever)
Look also
Joe Biden's position after the protests in Cuba removes hope for reconciliation
The Cuban regime shows muscle in a march led by Raúl Castro
