| The internet was once seen as a force for the promotion of "democracy through the free flow of information," The New York Times notes in an editorial. That will still be true in the future, depending on which of the three internets you are served by—American, Chinese, or European. "There's a world of difference between the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation, known commonly as G.D.P.R., and China's technologically enforced censorship regime, often dubbed 'the Great Firewall.' But all three spheres—Europe, America and China—are generating sets of rules, regulations and norms that are beginning to rub up against one another. What's more, the actual physical location of data has increasingly become separated by region, with data confined to data centers inside the borders of countries with data localization laws," the paper notes. "A chillier relationship with Europe and increasing hostilities with China spur on the trend toward Balkanization—and vice versa, creating a feedback loop. If things continue along this path, the next decade may see the internet relegated to little more than just another front on the new cold war." | 
