Abstract

This article explores the applicability of sovereignty over cyberspace. For the analysis, the Internet governance model of the People’s Republic of China is used as the case study. In its evaluation, this research utilizes Stephen Krasner’s conceptualization of sovereignty as its analytical tool and applies it to the Chinese way of Internet governance. Due to its peculiar Internet strategy and political stance, China might not provide a reference for what other states are going to exercise in terms of their Internet governance. However, being an outlier case in terms of Internet governance, China can help us to understand to what extent sovereignty is applicable over the cyber domain and the potential future implications of global Internet governance. Scholarly literature about the power structure in cyberspace mostly focuses on how cyberspace is empowering non-state actors and enabling the diffusion of power. However, recently, an opposite trend multiplying the power of the states using cyberspace has also been observed. In addition to its domestic Internet policy, China has also been increasing its efforts to gather more supporters for its vision of global Internet governance, “cyber sovereignty,” which may provide hints about what direction global Internet governance will evolve.