Geopolitics is naturally interwoven into the evolution of these policies, according to a report the US think tank Stratfor released on Friday.
Even though no single body dictates or enforces how the Internet expands, the Internet architecture and the manner in which it is governed are still rooted in its country of origin, the United States.
Western technologies and industries, particularly from the United States, dominate the Internet’s current construct.
Moreover, the US government designed the governing model and retains influence over small yet critical functions, such as managing network addresses.
Small wonder, then, that China and Russia are promoting network security and Internet governance issues, the report said.
In January China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, the six members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), proposed an updated draft of International Code of Conduct for Information Security to the United Nations.
Besides, a Russian law regarding data localization of Internet communications, which goes into effect on September 1, 2015, effectively requires companies obtaining information online from Russian citizens to store that data on servers physically located in the country.
Initially, companies like Google, Facebook or Twitter would be required to move or build data centers in Russia if they wish to conduct business online there, otherwise Russian Internet users presumably would be blocked from accessing the company's content, the Stratfor report noted.
The company analysts juxtapose two models of Internet governance: a multilateral model (with each country's government dictating the rules) favored by Russia and China, and the current multi-stakeholder model (with all participants having an equal say in governing the current model).
The Russian and Chinese argument is being bolstered by growing international concerns about Internet security in the wake of the recent exposés made by Edward Snowden, a former National Security Agency subcontractor who made headlines in 2013 when he leaked top secret information about NSA surveillance activities.
