WIKIPEDIA ban in Russia is coming

Wikipedia will soon disappear in  Russia according to recent media reports. The Guardian reported that President Vladimir Putin considers Wikipedia an unreliable source of information. He also indicated that instead of Wikipedia, Russia will build its own online encyclopedia with according to the Russian government is more reliable and  constantly updated on the basis of scientifically verified sources of knowledge.

As part of this process, Russia will transform its print encyclopedia into an online version similar to Wikipedia.It’s reported that Russian authorities have set aside a budget of about $31 million to implement the project. A National research and education will also be setup to support content development for the encyclopedia.

This move by Russia is seen as part of country’s efforts towards creating its own independent internet and information highway.Earlier this year Russia passed a law that would allow the country to create its own independent internet. Russia views this process as part of its defence strategy against cyber security.

What this means for the world is that splinternet is taking shape. Splinternet is about splitting the internet into different national or regional mini-internets. It was always seen as something that might happen in the future. The move by Russia aswell as the trade war between the US and China are fuelling the splinternet.

This will mean the end of the web as we know. The ease of creating a product and deploy it across the world will come to end. Navigating the web will keep people within their internet national boundaries. To access internet spaces in other countries will require permissions from governments. 

As this process unfolds, the digital wil change forever as businesses that were built for the global internet will have to recreate themselves for the splintered internet. For now its Wikipedia, other international tech giants may follow. The question is, which one?