I'm old enough to remember when the Internet was shut down to Iranians during the Iranian elections. Then there was that time in Egypt during the Arab spring where they cut them off. Syria, too. Remember how we all decried the dictators who did that?
And then there's ISIS. They also think cutting off internet access to areas they control is a fabulous idea!
Well, guess who else wants to do that? Yep, The Donald.
"We have to go see Bill Gates and a lot of different people that really understand what's happening. We have to talk to them about, maybe in certain areas, closing that Internet up in some way."
Even more than banning Muslims from travel in the United States, this remark ought to kill his campaign, given how many of us see the Internet as the last real venue for democracy.
None of the candidates have articulated smart plans to counter ISIS, but Trump’s statements stand out for their K-2 reading level and impressive total lack of details.
It's unclear if Trump was suggesting the US government censor certain parts of the web or if he lacks a basic understanding of how the internet works.
Oh, it's probably a little bit of both. But I'm fairly certain he's harking back to the days when dictators routinely shut off access to the outside world and social media networks so they could run roughshod over the people in their countries. I'm equally certain he would reassure everyone by telling them it would be "very, very humanely done."
