This week, the AEI Podcast Channel features the latest episode of Explain to Shane. You can find Explain to Shane on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

The potential for a fragmented, decentralized global internet (or “splinternet”) is a concern on many levels. Two aspects of internet governance are at play here: the technical aspects of connectivity (or lack thereof), and content delivery — in essence, what material is permitted, censored, or filtered. As China, Russia, and authoritarian-leaning regimes advance top-down visions of the internet that reflect their national interests, will the internet fragment further? And what would moving away from the status quo of a free, open internet mean for global cybersecurity? 

To help make sense of these complex questions, Shane is joined by Nick Merrill, director of the Daylight Security Research Lab at the University of California, Berkeley’s Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity. In addition to recent national news appearances, Nick’s work includes The Internet Atlas — a visual indicator of the global internet’s structural risks. He joins the podcast to discuss how individual countries’ internet governance decisions shape user experiences and the global cybersecurity landscape.