That said, governments who seek to censor information and the media are undermining the Internet’s potential. For instance, in countries like China, Iran, and Russia, governments habitually censor information and persecute bloggers and other online activists who they see as a threat to the status quo. On this note, on Sunday, The New York Times published an article on ‘U.S. Hopes Exports Will Help Open Closed Societies’, stating that the Obama Administration is seeking to exploit the Internet’s potential for prying open closed societies by permitting technology companies to export online services like instant messaging, chat and photo sharing to Iran, Cuba and Sudan. “The more people have access to a range of Internet technology and services, the harder it’s going to be for the Iranian government to clamp down on their speech and free expression,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the announcement had not been made yet.

BBC also published an article on ‘Internet access is a fundamental right’ on Monday.