Russia and Iran are making copycats of China’s Great Firewall
I keep coming back to the word "sovereignty" when I read about these firewall projects. It's the argument Russia and Iran make publicly, and it deserves a fair hearing. Every country draws its own lines on what enters its borders, whether that's goods, people, or information. The difference here is scale and intent, and that's where the debate gets genuinely hard.
What I'd want to know is how these systems actually function in practice. A firewall that blocks foreign propaganda is one thing. A firewall that quietly restricts domestic criticism is another. The technology itself doesn't tell you which one you're getting, and the stated purpose rarely matches the lived experience of users. I don't think every government that builds internet controls is automatically tyrannical, but I do think secrecy tends to serve the people running the firewall more than the people living behind it. That's the part I'd push on.