Damming a river to catch a fish – DNW Podcast #590
A domain name is not a platform; it is a switch. Governments are learning how quietly that switch can be thrown.
The DNS was built to resolve addresses, not to adjudicate speech. But because it sits between every website and its audience, it has become a favorite lever for anyone who wants a page gone without the mess of a trial.
- Article19's report, Damming a River to Catch a Fish, documents what happens when that lever is pulled too hard: one infringing page, one disputed phrase, and the whole domain disappears. The collateral damage is not a bug; it is the point for censors.
For domain owners the lesson is structural. Your name is not property in any ordinary sense; it is a service that a registry or registrar can revoke on a complaint. The legal paperwork that normally protects speech never gets a chance to arrive.
Suspension is governed by contracts that put speed above due process. The industry calls it abuse prevention; the report reminds us that the same machinery works for political suppression. The quieter the process, the more attractive it becomes to governments.
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