Why has the Internet become another "battlefield" in the Russia-Ukraine conflict?
With the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Western countries have imposed multiple sanctions on Russia. Among the sanctions in various fields, the "blocking" of Russia by Western Internet technology companies has attracted attention throughout the world. Now companies like Apple, Microsoft, Intel, etc. have announced they will stop selling products and providing services in Russia, while Google, Twitter and other companies have banned or restricted the content published by Russian media outlets on their platforms. Recently, Cogent Communications, one of the world's largest Internet backbone network providers, also announced a "shut-off operation" on Russian customers.
Sanctions against Russia in the cyber field directly caused by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine have gradually escalated. What are the impacts of "closing down of the Internet" and "banning"? Will Russia suffer a "cyber nuclear bomb"? How will Russia deal with the situation of complex network information? East Meets West recently had an exclusive interview with Peixi Xu, a professor at the Communication University of China and a member of the China Internet Governance Forum, to share his opinion and interpretation of this matter.
Peixi Xu, professor and doctoral supervisor at the Communication University of China, director of the Center for Global Governance of Cyberspace, a member of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Network Diplomacy Expert Advisory Committee, a member of the China Internet Governance Forum, and a member of the Network Communication Expert Committee. He is a lecturer on Communication, International Communication, and Network Society and Communication, etc. His main research areas are Internet Governance, Network Security, and International Communication. His representative works include Global Governance from Traditional Media to the Internet (Tsinghua University Press), The Shaping Cyber Norms Origins, Disputes, and Trends (Social Sciences Academic Press), etc.
Some analysts believe that Russia may encounter a "cyber nuclear bomb". How serious do you think the current sanctions against Russia are? What will the impact be?
U.S. Internet backbone operators, Cogent Communications and Lumen Technologies have stopped providing services to Russian customers. Although this action does not cut Russia of from the Internet entirely, it does not reach the level of "disconnection". And Russia has predicted such actions, even for higher-level actions. However, these actions happened at the Perception layer of the Internet, and such actions against great powers are unprecedented, therefore, it has attracted worldwide attention.
Some analysts compare the actions in the cyberworld and financial fields, and call it a "cyber nuclear bomb" after the "financial nuclear bomb" since SWIFT has banned some Russian banks. Although this statement is exaggerated, it is considered as a prediction of future risks, which demands attention. Such actions increase the risk of the fragmentation of the Internet's root name service system, triggering the alarm of having a digital cold war at the Perception layer of the Internet.
Credit: China News, Gang Wang
Recently, a number of Western media outlets have ststed that Russia is preparing to disconnect from the Internet, but according to Russian media reports, the Russian government’s response to this is that it will not cut off from the Internet internally. What do you think of Russia's previous nationwide "disconnection test"? What is the most essential difference between "disconnecting itself" and "being disconnected by others"?
Russia's "disconnection test" is actually a "prevention of disconnection test". In December 2019, in order to ensure the uninterrupted operation of the Russian Internet under any circumstances, the Russian Ministry of Communications and relevant government departments and enterprises managed to disconnect itself from the global Internet to ensure the stability of the Internet, the Internet of Things and Telecommunications network operations across Russia. It is said to be a success.
Russia has made adequate preparations for this test, both legally and technically. In May 2019, Russian President Vladimir Putin asked to build Internet infrastructure in Russia that is independent of the international Internet to ensure that it can still operate stably in the event of external network interruptions and other shocks.
Credit: China News, Xiujun Wang
Extreme solutions such as the disconnection test stem from Russia's constant insecurity and the experience after the Revolutions of 1989. Russia itself is a country dominated by security thinking. However, being prepared to be disconnected and being disconnected are two entirely different things. None of the countries wants to pay the price of being disconnected from the international Internet, so unless there is a deadly cyber attack on Russia's critical infrastructure or other unforeseen circumstances, Russia will not be disconnected from the Internet.
The list of Western Internet technology companies that have "banned" Russian users is getting longer and longer. Ukraine has also asked the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to impose tough sanctions on Russia. Why has the Internet become a "weapon"?
Most of the bans on Russia by content platform companies belong to the Application layer and can be classified into the category of information services, companies such as Twitter, Google, and YouTube. This kind of action is still within the scope of national sovereignty. There are essential differences compared with the action that takes place on the Perception layer.
Google's headquarter at Mountain View, California. Credit: China News, Guanguan Liu
Ukraine required ICANN to impose sanctions on Russia, asked ICANN to revoke Russia's national top-level domain name, and shut down the domain name root server located in Russia. This request is doomed behavior speaking from ICANN’s mechanism. Any member of the ICANN Government Advisory Committee could reject such a request with one single vote. ICANN unequivocally rejected Ukraine's unreasonable request, maintaining its neutrality in this matter.
However, the absolute national security perspective continues to become generalized in many countries, preferring to use populism to change the government agenda. This trend has led to disputes over the future of Internet governance.
Now there is a lot of information about the conflict between Russia and Ukraine on the Internet, and both Russia and Ukraine have made some refutations on rumors before. Do you think this kind of online information confrontation will continue to escalate in the future?
In the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, cyber attacks on key infrastructure are not obvious. Russia has not even implemented the standardized combat operations such as shutting down power or the Internet in Ukraine, so there is no new standing point in the dimension of "cyber warfare".
I think "information warfare" in the digital age is a key theme of the current Russia-Ukraine conflict. The power to characterize war as good or bad often depends on the country's “soft power”, it may change the mindset of people.
The conflict clearly shows that Russia wants to use hard power to curb NATO's endless expansion, while the United States is trying to use its soft power to change international public opinion to achieve the goal of weakening Russia in various fields. Russia is not afraid to express its own claims because of its relatively weak position in international communication, but strives to present the internal causes of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Ukraine wants people to focus on the details of the conflict itself, and President Zelensky frequently uses social media to make announcements.
At the same time, grassroots and individual citizen narratives are on the rise in the social media era. People are speaking from their own perspectives, using their own platform accounts, and publishing mixed opinions. This has added new variables to the game of public opinion among great powers. The “truth” everyone sees may have been refracted and fragmented countless times. Social media platforms constitute a unique information battlefield.
Credit: China News, Weikai Zhai
Facing the impact of the network information level in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, what measures do you think can be taken to deal with it?
War-mind has spread enough to make cyberspace a new battlefield. The Geneva Internet Platform observes that 53 countries in the world have announced that they have cyber combat forces or have shown the ability to carry out cyber attacks, including the United States, Japan, Australia, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Russia, India, South Africa, Brazil and some BRICS countries.
Regarding the information level confrontation, this should be treated as a separate category. Low-cost interference methods such as online rumors, false information, deepfakes, leaked news, and social robots have been widely used. The game of leading international public opinion in the digital age has lost control, which constitutes an important dimension of national security and requires the restriction of completed international rules.
What implications do you think the current situation has on the international governance of basic Internet resources?
On the one hand, we must continue to defend “interconnectedness around the globe”, give everyone the benefit of the doubt, and the opportunity to express more constructive opinions. We should be able to distinguish the technical attributes of the Internet represented by the Internet domain name system, protocols, and root servers from other attributes and continue to support the existing system and governance concepts represented by ICANN. Also, we need to advocate the relative independence and neutrality of basic Internet resources, and try to promote the globalization of Internet governance, while also avoiding politicization and ideologicalization.
On the other hand, all countries must see the early warnings of the future of conflict and make a response plan. Although the initial value of "One Global Network" is still important, it is not indispensable. The current sanctions against Russia can be applied to other countries.
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