There is nothing new about written laws — they have been around for thousands of years, and they predate paper. The internet has changed the landscape and governments are now struggling to enforce the law of the land on the internet. Since the digital introduction of business on the internet, existing laws have rarely been enforced online. Governments have traditionally only taken action against the most egregious culprits such as gambling or pornography. Recently, governments around the world are beginning to catch up and realize that the internet is real life, and the laws in their country need to be enforced even on the world wide web. It is not enough to let for profit enterprises make acceptable use decisions for countries that impact their sovereignty and diminish their ability to enforce the law in their country. The main issues governments face are lost revenue from illegal online activity, increased risks to public safety from cyberattacks, and the spread of harmful content online.  

Lost Revenue from Illegal Online Activity 

Tax authorities are struggling to control illegal online activity within their boundaries. Illegal online gambling is on the rise, and the digital economy continues to challenge governments with lost tax remittance. Other examples of where governments are losing taxes include online media and music streaming, taxation on rideshare providers, and hotel services. Piracy, scams, cyber-attacks, infected links, and child exploitation cases are also on the rise.  

Important Statistics 

  • Government imposter scams jumped by 53% from 2018 to 2019 (AARP) 
  • In 2019, consumers lost $1.3 billion to email scams (WHNT) 
  • Fraud was, by far, the biggest source of consumer angst in 2019 (AARP) 

Increased Risks to Public Safety 

It’s not just the effect of ecommerce that governments are waking up to. Risks to public safety have increased with the advent of the internet and the spread of harmful content online. Criminals are increasingly using the internet to perpetuate hate crimes and attacks, one of the deadliest in recent memory being the attack on the mosque in New Zealand in 2019 that was broadcast live over Facebook. Cyberbullying and fake news are also spreading unchecked across social media and other platforms.  

How to Control Internet Content and Lost Tax Revenue 

Netsweeper is uniquely positioned to help countries meet this challenge. With over 21 years of research and development experience, Netsweeper’s categorization and management platform is an accurate, comprehensive solution that analyzes and classifies web content and provides a central administration tool for ISPs. Our countrywide filtering solution enables a jurisdictional ring around a country’s virtual network, to centrally block the proliferation of illegal content. Our solution is highly scalable, provides tangible ROI for government authorities, and is trusted by the world’s largest telcos.

To learn more about how Netsweeper’s countrywide filtering solutions can help you enforce your laws on the internet, reach out to Perry Roach: CEO@netsweeper.com.