(UnitedReader.com) – Leaders in Cuba cut its citizens off from the outside world earlier in 2021 as protests and riots triggered chaos across the nation. Now, some Republican lawmakers want to prepare for a future crisis, such as natural disasters or when foreign autocrats cut internet and telecommunication services to hide their misdeeds.
On August 31, 14 Republican lawmakers led by Representative Maria Salazar (R-FL) introduced the American Freedom and Internet Access Act of 2021 (HR-5123).
Salazar to roll out plan giving access to telecommunications abroad when internet access is shut downhttps://t.co/hOVkLpCjty
— Fox News (@FoxNews) August 31, 2021
If passed, the act would direct the Secretary of the Air Force to develop and implement Operation Starfall, a means of providing internet service during natural disasters. The same technology would also render it impossible for dictators and rogue regimes to shut off Internet access during times of heightened unrest.
Starfall’s reliability falls squarely on the shoulders of important technology, much of which is already in use in several areas of the globe. For example, officials rolled it out in response to network failures within Puerto Rico in the wake of Hurricane Maria. Kenya’s government uses it to ensure rural residents have internet service.
The deployment of aerostats — satellite or stratospheric balloons capable of sending wireless Internet anywhere in the world — could change the face of global online access.
Operation Starfall could make a significant global impact in times of emergency. Hopefully, Democrats get on board with the program and make it happen.
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