The National Democratic Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization working to support and strengthen democratic institutions worldwide through citizen participation, openness and accountability in government.

The Westphalian Treaty, signed 365 years ago, created the “framework for our modern world” by establishing sovereignty and setting national borders for European countries. But with the birth of the Internet came global networks of information that went beyond borders, challenging dicatorships and censorship and changing the way people participate in democracies. Now, many countries are increasingly trying to regulate the Internet—which according to the 1966 Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace is part of a “realm beyond borders or government”— within their national borders to maintain more control.

“Nearly 365 years ago, those hundred-plus princes and diplomats came together to end war — and in the process, created borders. The Internet broke those borders down, advancing the cause of fundamental rights, free expression, and shared humanity in all its messy glory. Now, to stifle political dissent and in the name of defending national security, governments are putting those borders back up — and in doing so, they're dragging the Internet into ancient history.”