The internet was, at one time, looked upon as a potential tech utopia, yet three decades after the launch of the world wide web — a name that holds the promise of a global network — the reality looks increasingly fragmented.

Instead of a single internet, there are now dozens around the world, divided not only by the kind of content that they deem legal but also the infrastructure they contain. Because while the internet may feel ephemeral, it relies upon physical telecoms equipment: the sort of hardware that has increasingly been scrutinised in debates around national security.

Experts dubbed it the ‘splinternet’, and they have been warning about it for years. “Bit by bit, the internet is becoming more cordoned off,” wrote Katja Bego, principal researcher at UK innovation foundation Nesta, back in 2016. “The time of the internet of fun and games, of unfettered access, is quickly coming to an end.”