: "Splinternet" or the "balkanization of the internet" refers to the creation of different, isolated digital spaces due to national regulations and firewalls.
: The disintegration of the USSR into 15 independent republics is a classic 20th-century example. balkanize
: The term originated from the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th century and was cemented by the violent breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s. : "Splinternet" or the "balkanization of the internet"
: It is a popular trope in alternate history , often depicting a fragmented "Divided States of America". Balkanize Me - TV Tropes balkanize
: Historically, the term also refers to a strategy used by larger powers to weaken a rival by encouraging its internal division. Historical & Contemporary Examples