Could a totalitarian state exist in the age of the Internet?

Question

Some people say, a" Totalitarian state on the scale of the USSR, under Joseph Stalin, or the n**i government of Germany, would be made impossible today, by the free flow of information on the world wide web".

Would this nessasarry be the case?. may we be by posting information, on media such as yahoo answers, giving clues to our political, and religious affliations, be unwittengly puting ourselves at risk from a futare totalitarian state, no matter, how immprobable thay may seem to us now?.

Answer 1

Cuba

N. Korea

Burma

Iran

Syria

Libya

China

Answer 2

If it can be thought of then it is possible (so goes an old saying which might be true). The internet would be under strict control (like it is now but much more so). Yes, what we have scattered here there and everywhere could well sign our death warrant. I'm hoping I'll die of old age before it comes to that (selfish I know).

Answer 3

We already live in one in Britain, and people actually voted for it.

Answer 4

China.

Answer 5

Gordon Brown's government is already making plans to monitor all phone calls and emails.

Totalitarianism here we come (if we are not there already).

Answer 6

Lets ask Myanmar.

Oops we can't.

Answer 7

Well that's easily solved, simply ensure your citizens have no access to the Internet.

In North Korea, only those in the upper echelons of Government have Internet access, the general population has none. In China, Internet access is severely restricted. Anything critical of Government is not permitted and dissenting bloggers have been jailed.

Answer 8

a totalitarian state is rarely a result of with held information. more a result of miss information or distorted facts, such as using the truth sparingly!! or in the case of the labour party just outright lying!!.... because the British wont do any thing to stop them. so really! the Internet could actually be an aid! to totalitarianism. particularly in Britain, because unlike most country's the British are so willing to turn on each other and so willing to be manipulated. the British are almost a self policing nation of curtain twitchers. in France they say that if the government told the British to eat their own sh*t, they would do it without question. i would ad to that and say they would probably report their neighbours for not!! doing it. you have to say that any people that would stand by and watch their country being given away, and do nothing!! are unlikely to fight against any! thing. so in all i would say Britain is widely recognised by the EU as being an easy target for manipulation. totalitarianism would easily take root here.