Introduction
Worldwide, the internet and social media constitute phenomena that have become
integral to ­people’s lives. They permit real-­time, rapid communication, including
information and content sharing with ­people all over the world, at the touch of a
few buttons. Less than twenty years ago, while the internet was spreading across
the world, it was almost unforeseeable that it would lead to the invention and mass
adoption of social media, and ­ later applications or apps, that would revolutionize
how ­ people consume and create online content. The online information environ-
ment started very small—­mostly at the behest of universities and government-­
sponsored institutions—­and has grown to the extent that ­ today, it reaches almost ­
every corner of the globe. The early internet grew from a few providers and several
budding social media platforms into a dynamic, high-­velocity, ubiquitous, and in-
teractive environment that reaches almost ­ every enabled device. It stands to reason
that this environment ­will continue to improve faster and grow ever more complex
as new technologies are introduced and ­people keep up their demand for and in-
terest in new uses for them. At the same time, ­these technologies are ultimately
used and produced by ­ people from vari­ous cultures and online needs. ­ These dif-
ferences between ­peoples have led to innovations in emerging communications
technology, as well as global entrepreneurship that develops new ideas to meet
mainstream and niche cultural needs.
Internet
The term internet refers to the hardware and software infrastructure that connects
multiple networks located all over the globe. It is, in a nutshell, the overarching
framework that connects and enables the sharing of information among ­ these net-
works. The  U.S. government laid the initial groundwork for the internet in the late
1950s. In the midst of the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union
that began ­after World War II (1939–1945), the United States created the Advanced
Research Proj­ect Agency (ARPA) to invigorate research and development of the
country’s science and technology in 1958. ARPA’s portfolio contained some of the
early technologies that paved the way for the internet, although it did not emerge
in its current form ­ until ­ after 1993, when the Eu­ ro ­ pean Organ­ization for Nuclear
Research, known colloquially as CERN, released the software required to run the
World Wide Web over the internet. ­After 1993, the internet grew exponentially,
allowing freer and faster exchanges of information.
Many ­people envisioned the internet as a tool to promote freedom of speech and
open access to information. The freedom of speech issue usually resonates in local
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