The world’s largest undersea internet cable is being built to improve online access and reliability for billions of people.
- It’s called the 2Africa cable and is 45,000 km (28,000 miles) long
- It stretches all the way around the African continent
- A ship has set sail from France to lay the next part of the cable
Will this ambitious project really make the internet more accessible worldwide? Let’s take a closer look.
The Massive 2Africa Cable
The 2Africa undersea cable is an incredible engineering feat. Here are some key facts:
- It’s about as wide as a garden hose
- Inside are fragile optical fibers that data travels through
- Signals move at the speed of light under the world’s oceans
- It will bring a huge increase in internet capacity and reliability to Africa and beyond
Undersea cables like this have allowed billions more people to connect to the internet in recent years. Today, 70% of the world’s population is online.
Internet Censorship Rising
Despite ambitious projects to expand internet access, a worrying trend is emerging – more government censorship and control over the web.
- 2023 saw more deliberate internet shutdowns by governments than ever before
- India, in particular frequently cut citizens off from the internet
- According to Freedom House, online censorship has risen for 13 straight years globally
Based on their latest Freedom Index map, the redder a country is colored, the less internet freedom its citizens have. China has the worst online environment.
A Splintered Internet
Experts warn the growth of internet control tools and governments’ willingness to use them is fracturing the once-open internet:
- The ideal of a truly “global internet” was likely never realistic
- Even the US, an open internet champion, is banning TikTok over security fears
- So, while remarkable engineering connects more people, the internet itself grows more divided
Conclusion
The 2Africa cable is laying the groundwork for improved worldwide connectivity. But will increased access ensure an open, global internet? With rising censorship fragmenting the web, that vision faces significant threats. Can balance be achieved to keep the internet free yet secure?
